Eternal Flame
by Sammi Writes
Summary: Desperate for a new life, Bella moved to Bon Temps with her cousin Sookie. She gets mixed up in a world of drugs and sex before single father, Alcide, comes in and saves her from the path she's on and from herself. This is their story. Bella/Alcide
1. Chapter 1

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: This is my second attempt at a crossover with Twilight and True Blood…I decided to axe the other story so maybe this one will be a bit better. Just give it a chance please?**

**Plot: Desperate for a different life, Bella Swan moves to Bon Temps, Lousiana with her cousins Sookie and Jason Stackhouse to start over. Soon she is getting mixed up in drugs and random sex with the type of people she swore she would never be with again…until single father, Alcide Herveaux walks into her life and saves her from the road she was heading down and from herself. This is their story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, that honor is Stephanie Meyer's and all rights to True Blood/ Southern Vampire Mysteries (AKA The Sookie Stackhouse Chronicles) belong to Charlaine Harris…of course if I had my way with any of the Characters from either series Carlisle Cullen would be MINE from Twilight and I would make equal time for BOTH Alcide Herveaux AND Eric Northman from True Blood…Yum!**

**Chapter 1**

**Bella's POV**

I had a somewhat normal life…one that I shared for 2 years with the love of my life, Edward Cullen. That was until he dumped me right after my 18th birthday and left me alone in the woods. I thought that we would be together forever…but it seems I was just a distraction for "his kind". Oh yeah, Edward was a vampire. Yeah! I know! It wouldn't have been so bad but when he dumped me he promised it would be as if he never existed…Boy was he right! He and his family, including my best friend Alice, packed up and left without so much as a goodbye. Talk about hurting, I was beyond hurt.

For MONTHS I sat in my room in a zombie state, only leaving to go to school and occasionally eat. I guess I was hoping that they would come back…but they never did. After almost 4 months went by Charlie had enough and starting talking about either sending me to an institution for my deep depression or down to Florida to live with Renee…that was NOT what I needed, her babying me and wanting to get me to "talk". I think that's when I thought of Sookie and Jason, my cousins on my mother's side of the family. I think Sookie was just as surprised to hear my voice as I was hers.

"Hey Sookie! It's Bella…Renee's daughter?" I said.

"BELLA?" she squealed "Oh My God! It's been so LONG! How have you been? Why haven't you called in 2 years?"

"I'm sorry, Sookie. I have been busy…but I could be better if you helped me. How's Jay?" I asked referring to her brother, my older cousin, Jason.

"He's doing GREAT! He's finally gotten himself straightened out, got his own place and he's a deputy now." she said "What can I help you with Bells? What's wrong?"

"I'm just going through some shit right now and I need to get out of Washington…get a change of scenery and start over…and I don't want to go to Florida and have to deal with Mom trying to get me to "talk"…Sook you are about the only one I CAN talk to." I said.

"I have room if you want to come here…like I said, Jay got his own place…that is if you don't mind my boyfriend, Eric, being here." she said.

"Why would I mind?" I asked.

"Wow! Things are…different down here Bells than they are up there." she said "People are…different."

"Explain" I said.

"I will when you get here, are you coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see if you had room." I said.

"Bells, you should know better than to assume I wouldn't take you in at any given point in time…you are my baby cousin and I LOVE you. Come on down." she said, her accent thicker than I remembered it…then again it HAD been 2 years, before I moved to Forks, that I had talked to her.

"See you soon, then Bells. Just call me when you get close to New Orleans and I will drive over to meet you and you can follow me in or do you remember how to get to my Gran's house?" she asked.

"I think I do but it's been so long, I'll meet you in New Orleans." I said.

"OK Bells, I'll see you in a few days." she said.

"Thanks Sookie…this means a lot." I said.

"I know all about wanting a fresh start. You are very welcome!" she said and at that we hung up. Now all I had to do was tell Charlie…that was going to be fun. While Charlie was at work, I packed everything that I owned. Jacob came over while I was packing.

"Going somewhere Bells?" he asked.

" I need to get out of Washington for a while…everything around here reminds me of THEM. I love Charlie and I will come visit him…and you…but I…I just need to get out." I said.

"I understand, Bells…so you're going to Florida with your mom?" he asked jumping in and helping me pack.

"No, I'm going to Louisiana…remember my cousins Sookie and Jason that came up a couple of times when we were kids?" I asked and he thought for a second.

"Oh YEAH the mind reader right?" he asked.

"Yep that would be Sookie…the ONLY human mind reader." I said.

"I thought it was cool…Jason wasn't much older right? I remember him because even back then he was pulling in the ladies." he said with a laugh.

"Yeah…some things never change." I said with a laugh.

"You don't say." he said as we continued to pack my things. "So when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow." I said and he stopped.

"Wait…TOMORROW? And you didn't tell me?" he said, a hurt look on his face.

"I just decided today Jake…hell, Charlie doesn't even know yet!" I said.

"Oh shit, can I watch when you tell him? This is going to be HILARIOUS!" he said.

"Um NO!" I said with a laugh.

"Just kidding, Bells…but really? Tomorrow?" he asked and I nodded "When tomorrow?"

"I was thinking of spending the day with Charlie and then leaving tomorrow afternoon…it's a three day drive." I said.

"Well then if you are spending the day with Charlie before leaving then you need to come down to the rez one more time before you leave and hang out with all of us." he said.

"OK…but JAKE…I'm only a phone call away and I'll be coming back for visits…and you guys can always just run down there if you need to stretch your legs a bit and get out of La Push for a while." I said…did I mention my OTHER best friend was a werewolf?

"Very true…and I just may do that from time to time but still…please? They are having a bonfire party tonight anyway…we can turn it into a going away thing for you." he said.

"I guess I could do that." I said. "Jake? Do you happen to have any old truck bed covers around your shop somewhere?"

"Actually I do…I have the one that came with your truck. Do you want me to put it on when you come tonight?" he asked.

"Please…I don't know what kind of weather I am going to run into on the way." I said.

"Yeah, I can do that." he said as we packed the last box. My entire life in Forks was packed away into 5 boxes, two suitcases and a duffel bag. "Well, I'm going to go let the guys know you are coming. Damn, Bells…I'm going to miss you so much!"

"Jake, please don't or I'm going to cry." I said and he smiled his Jacob smile that he only showed me. He pulled me into a hug and kissed me lightly on the cheek before he left. I walked downstairs and started preparing Charlie's favorite dinner in preparation for what I had to tell him, I made sure the living room was tidy in case he wanted to watch TV and I threw a couple of beers in the freezer to get them ice cold. He walked in just as I was finishing with dinner. He hung his gun belt on the rack by the door and dropped his keys on the side table before making his way toward the kitchen.

"Bells?" he asked.

"Hey Dad!" I said with a smile.

"You look better." he said.

"I'm getting there…come on let's eat. I made your favorite." I said and he sat at the table as I made him and I a plate and sat down myself.

"This is delicious Bells…what's the occasion?" he asked.

"To new beginnings." I said.

"I can handle that." he said "So you are going to start trying to move on?"

"Yes…which brings me to what I need to tell you." I said.

"What's that?" he said putting his fork down and staring at me intently.

"I've decided to move to Louisiana with Sookie." I said.

"Really? What brought that on?" he said.

"Well, I don't think I can handle Renee's questioning right now and I love you, Dad but I need to get out of Forks for a while…everything reminds me of him." I said.

"I understand, Bells…I hate to see you go but at least your are going to live with someone you and I both know and trust. I liked Sookie." he said "When are you leaving?"

"Well I promised Jake I'd come hang out with them tonight for one last time and I figured you and I could spend the day together tomorrow and I will leave tomorrow afternoon." I said.

"So soon?" he said with the same hurt look Jacob had earlier.

"The sooner the better…I love you, Dad. But I need this…to keep my sanity." I said.

"I understand, Bells…and as much as I want you here, I want you to be happy." he said taking my hand across the table. Charlie wasn't much for emotions so I could tell this was hard for him.

"Don't worry, Dad…I'm going to come back to visit. I just need a fresh start in my newfound adulthood and since I've already graduated and everything…why not now?" I said and he smiled.

"Have fun tonight, Bells…I'm going to enjoy our last day tomorrow." he said and I walked around the table to give him a hug before heading upstairs to change and headed to La Push for one last hoorah with the boys. It was a lot of fun…everyone was sad to see me go but I made them all the same promise I made both Jake and Charlie. At the end of the night I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next day Charlie and I spent the day together and had lunch before he helped me load up my truck and I headed out, toward my final destination. Here's to new beginnings!

**Author's Note: So should I continue or not? Let me know…all reviews are welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I'm glad that this seems to be popular already. Without further ado…Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or True Blood but if I did I would have some FUN with some of the male characters including Carlisle Cullen, Alcide Herveaux and Eric Northman because those three are EXTRA yummy!**

**Chapter 2**

**Alcide's POV**

I lived for only one thing in my life after the death of my father and my wife of 4 year, Debbie, leaving me…that was my daughter Summer. He was only 3 when Debbie decided to leave us and she was there with me when my father took his last breath a few months later. I tried to do everything right by Summer but she had to endure so much in her life.

I got to see Summer every other weekend but things were BAD at her home with her mother. Debbie had hooked up with a man named Marcus, my former pack leader in Shreveport, long before she finally left me and even had the audacity to bring my daughter around him after she left…but what could I do? I was stuck working my day in day out job and trying to hire lawyers to fight for custody of her…a feat which was hard pressed being that judges in the south loved to rule in favor of the mother no matter what the mother had done. And trust me, Debbie and Marcus had done A LOT to Summer.

I had to bide my time, though. Holding my tongue when Summer would come to my house for the weekend with fresh bruises and cuts. She came over one weekend with a piece of glass stuck in her foot that I had to get the doctor to remove and stitch up becaue all Debbie did was put a Band Aid over it. She had a long burn on her arm one time from where Debbie's mother was paying attention to her while she was in her care and she burned her arm on a space heater at her house. The list goes on as to the things I had to see when Summer would come over for her weekend visits. But I had to bide my time, so my lawyer said….inside I was raging, I wanted nothing more than to kill them both for what they had done to my little girl.

Instead of taking things out on Debbie and Marcus like I wanted to, I took it out on an endless string of one night stands. Girls I met at the bar, Girls I met at the university in New Orleans, any and every girl that crossed my path. I knew it was a destructive path and that I should settle down but at that point I really couldn't care less about that at that particular point in time. I just wanted something to drown out the rage and hurt that I was feeling. Then I met a girl named Deannna. We had a fling for a while and even moved in together, she had 3 boys of her own.

Things were going great with her until she made one fatal mistake one day when she saw how close Summer and I were.

"Alcide, we need to talk." she said.

"About what?" I asked getting up from where I was playing with Summer on the floor.

"In private please?" she said and I followed her into the bedroom, closing the door behind me.

"What is it?" I asked intently.

"We have a problem…you seem to care more for Summer than you do me." she said.

"Well of COURSE I do, she's my DAUGHTER!" I said wondering why this was being brought up when she KNEW how I felt about my daughter and how I felt about you.

"You spend all of your time with her when she is here and completely ignore the boys and I." she said.

"Deanna what do you want me to say? I get to see her once every 2 weeks…twice a month for the weekend. She's going through a lot over at Debbie's house with her and Marcus…you KNOW this." I said starting to get angry.

"This is how it's going to work, Alcide…you either start making some time for us or leave." she said.

"So basically you are making me CHOOSE between you and your boys and my DAUGHTER?" I said getting angry.

"I'm not saying THAT I am saying that when she is here you need to find time for us as well." she said.

"Jesus, Deanna…what do you want me to do? You KNOW I only get to see her 6 days out of the month with the exception of Christmas, Spring Break and the Summer." I said.

"You need to choose what's more important to you." she finally said…I KNEW it…she was trying to make me choose.

"What the fuck, Deanna? You just told me you weren't making me choose between you and your boys and my daughter and in the same breath you are telling me to choose…which is it?" I shouted "You know what? Fuck it! It's OBVIOUS that you don't give a damn about Summer or you wouldn't even be questioning this shit, so we are packing our shit TODAY and leaving."

"No, that's not what I mean!" she screamed.

"I don't even feel like hearing you try to beg me to stay…I am doing what is best for me and my DAUGHTER…and YES, I DO love her more than you…I always will…I will love her more than ANYONE. You are just a selfish bitch…just because you put a man before YOUR children doesn't mean I will put a woman before mine!" I said throwing my things into a few boxes and bags and loading it into the back of my truck, doing the same with other things. "Come on, Baby" I said to Summer "Let's go"

"Ok Daddy." she said looking up at me with the most beautiful blue eyes in the world. My angel. We drove back to my old family house in Shreveport and she asked me "Daddy, Are we ever going to see Miss Deanna again?"

"No, baby…Daddy and Deanna aren't going to be together anymore…just like your Mommy and Me." I said.

"Good…cause Miss Deanna and her little boys were mean to me." she said sadly.

"What do you mean, baby?" I asked.

"They always hollered at me and stuff…she didn't like me." she said.

"Is that all she did?" I asked and she nodded "She never hit you did she?"

"No, Daddy! Nobody hits me but Mommy and Marcus." she said.

"Are your Mommy and Marcus still hitting you?" I asked and she shook her head 'yes'. I tried to keep my temper in check "Why?" I asked and she shrugged. "It's ok baby, hopefully you won't have to be there for much longer. Do you want to come live with me?" I asked and her eyes brightened up as she nodded excitedly.

"Yes, Yes, Yes!" she squealed.

"Well you know I have to take you back to your Mommy's today." I said sadly and she put her head down, lost in thought the way she always got right before I had to take her back to Debbie's. I saw tears streaming down my baby girl's face and it broke my heart that my 5 year old little angel had to go through the things she did.

"I don't want to go, Daddy!" she sobbed.

"I know, baby, but you know you have to…just for a little while longer." I said.

"I know, Daddy! I still don't want to go" she said sobbing even harder. We got closer to Debbie's house that she shared with Marcus and Summer's cried turned into wails. We got out of the car and walked up the front steps to Debbie's door, Summer resisted the whole way there. Debbie opened the door before I could even knock, a flirty smile playing on her lips.

"Well hello, sexy." she said obviously flirting…she and Marcus must have been fighting again. That's how it worked with Debbie, every time she and Marcus were on the rocks she tried to get back with me…I wasn't having it. I may have wanted it at one point in time but I was over it now.

"Hello Debbie" I said trying to be polite "Same time weekend after next?"

"Yes, that would be fine." she said and I bent down to hug Summer one last time.

"Daddy, please don't leave me here." she whispered in my ear.

"I have to, sweetheart, you know that" I whispered back "I love you, pumpkin."

"I love you too, Daddy" she said and I wiped the tears from her eyes as she hurried inside with Debbie, plus Marcus's daughter and their daughter together, Lilly, that she had shortly after leaving me.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? Marcus is at work." Debbie said attempting to flirt again "We could just talk…you know about Summer?"

"Debbie, I know you and I know the last thing you want to do is talk…nonetheless about Summer. I've got to get going." I said turning to leave.

"I'm not happy without you, Alcide." she said behind me.

"You should have thought of that before you cheated on me and left, goodbye Debbie." I said as I got into my truck and headed back to my old house. I unloaded and spent the rest of the day trying to keep busy to keep my mind off of the entire fucked up situation I was in. Maybe tomorrow would bring a better day and possibly better news.


	3. Chapter 3

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Thanks to all who have added this story to their alerts and reviewed…it means a lot. Now you know not ALL the Cullens are going to stay gone, they show their presence in little ways…like in a way Bella is about to find out. I apologize for this taking so long to get out there but due to Hurricane Irene, I was without power for several days and clean up is taking a lot out of me. Please pray for the families here in North Carolina who have lost their homes and for the families of the 39 people who died during this horrible storm. No one expected it to be this bad…we were all wrong.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or True Blood but I wish I could own Carlisle Cullen, Eric Northman and Alcide Herveaux because they are all just yummy.**

**Chapter 3**

**Bella's POV**

Before I left Forks, I stopped at the ATM to withdraw what little cash I had in there only to get the shock of my life to see that my balance was about $100,000 MORE than what I had earlier in the week. The first thought that popped into my head was that it was some kind of mistake so I called the bank.

"Forks Credit Union, how may I help you?" the voice on the line said.

"My name is Isabella Swan and I was just checking my balance at the ATM there must be some mistake." I said.

"Hold on one moment and I will check with you. What does the ATM say?" she asked.

"It says I have 100,360...I only had like 360 in there the other day from my paycheck." I said.

"No there is no mistake, there was a deposit made into your account from an account in Alaska…an Alice Cullen." she said and my jaw dropped. Damn you, Alice.

"I can't accept this money, can you transfer it back to her account?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Ma'am but I'm afraid she closed that account and left word not to send the money back." she said and if I weren't so hurt she left me I would hunt the little pixie down and strangle her after hearing this.

"Um Thank you." I said.

"You are very welcome, Miss Swan. Have a nice day." she said and we hung up. I took advantage of my newfound wealth and filled my tank up before heading out. I had to stop 3 times on the way to New Orleans to sleep but by day 3 I was calling Sookie to let her know I was an hour away from New Orleans. We met at the stadium where the Saint played. Sookie, and to my surprise Jason…in uniform, got out of the car and ran to me wrapping their arms around me.

"BELLS!" Sookie squealed "I'm so glad you came."

"Thank you for letting me stay." I said.

"Bells, you are family…why wouldn't we let you stay? I would've let you stay at my place but it's so small." Jason said.

"Thanks Jay, that means a lot." I said.

"Come on, Bells…Ride with me, Jay can drive you truck. I have a lot to tell you on the way to Bon Temps." Sookie said and I threw Jason my keys and got in the car with Sookie.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"I wanted to tell you that things are…different down here. I mean supernaturally different." she said.

"OK…meaning?" I asked generally intrigued.

"Well we have vampires, fairies, witches, werewolves, were panthers and shifters." she said. "And when I say fairies, I don't just mean my friend Lafayette…I mean actual freaking fairies…I'm part fairy, that's why I can read minds and Jay is irresistible to women."

"OH!" I said. "But how do you know about…vampires without fear of death?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I-I knew a family of vampires once…the son is the reason I am here to begin with. They have…laws about humans knowing about them that can be punishable by death." I said.

"Really?" Sookie said with a laugh "OK I obviously have to explain further…your vampires are ruled by different people than ours are…the Volturi right?"

"H-How did you know?" I asked.

"My ex, Bill, is a vampire…well he's the King of Louisiana now as far as vampires go…but he served with two vampires that broke away from Volturi rule during the Southern Vampire Wars….Peter and Charlotte Whitlock. They were tired of hiding so they moved to New Orleans and are now ruled by The Authority and Bill." she said.

"Did you say Whitlock?" I stammered and the hole in my chest that Edward and the Cullens left started to throb a bit as I thought of Jasper, the man I once considered a brother.

"Yes, do you know them?" she asked.

"No…I knew their maker, Jasper. He was part of the family I mentioned." I said.

"Ah yes, the Major…Peter and Char have talked highly of him." Sookie said.

"He was something…quiet but very sweet." I said and the throbbing grew a bit, time to change the subject. "You said you have werewolves?" I asked.

"Yes, Weres is what we call them around here." she said "My friend Alcide is a werewolf…not to be mistaken with a shifter, like my boss Sam, who can shift into any animal…or a were panther like unfortunately Jay has become thanks to his psycho ex girlfriend biting him."

"Jay's a panther?" I asked.

"Not by choice, unfortunately…that's his story to tell." Sookie replied. "Did they have werewolves up there?"

"Well my best friend, Jake, is a shape shifter but he can only shift into a wolf…I don't think he could be considered a werewolf though because he can do it on command…he doesn't need a full moon." I said.

"That's so cool." she said.

"Now, what's up with the witches?" I asked.

"Well there are only a few left now after one witch named Marnie was inhabited by the spirit of a witch dead set on killing all vampire but Lafayette and his boyfriend, Jesus, are witches…Well Lafayette is more of a medium, he can channel spirits and stuff like that. It's kind of crazy really." Sookie said.

"So tell me more about this fairy thing…does it affect my side of the family?" I asked.

"Yes, actually it does…have you ever noticed you have a quirk or something?" Sookie asked "I notice one right now…I can't hear your thoughts."

"That's the only thing I have noticed…my ex was a mind reader and he couldn't read my thoughts but his brother could feel my emotions and his sister could see my future. The Volturi's powers don't work on me either." I said.

"Oh? You must be a shield then." Sookie said.

"Maybe…I dunno." I said. "So, tell me more about the vampires down here. How are they different?"

"Well The Authority passed the Mainstreaming Act that allowed all Southern Vampires to 'come out of the coffin' so to speak. Unlike your vampires up north, which some believe may be part fairy, our vampires can't go into the sunlight or they will burn, silver burns them, wood stakes kill them and they live off of three things: human blood, True Blood, which is kind of synthetic blood engineered in Japan, and on some rare occasions animal blood." she said "Also, unlike Peter and Charlotte and some of the others you may have come in contact with in the past, they do not sparkle…they have fangs…and their eyes only turn colors when they are hungry then they turn a black color…they are normal color before then."

"What red? Gold?" I asked having only seen two different kinds of vampires.

"No, normal colors like brown, green, blue, hazel…like my man, Eric, he's got blue eyes unless he's hungry or horny." she said with a laugh and I had to laugh at that as well. We drove for a while longer and pulled into Bon Temps where a sign read "God Hates Fangs" as we entered town. That was weird. "You want to meet some people or just go settle in first?" Sookie asked.

"I'm up for meeting people." I said and she waved out the window for Jason to go on to the house and we pulled into a parking lot in front of a restaurant with the name "Merlotte's" written in big letters across the front. "Where are we?" I asked.

"This is where I work, I could get Sam to hire you as well if you would like." she said.

"Maybe later." I said "So are we going in?"

"Are you hungry?" she asked and my stomach chose that time to growl. We both laughed and got out of the car heading into the restaurant. We took a seat at the bar and a pretty black girl walked up to us.

"Hey Sook…who's your friend?" the girl asked.

"Tara, this is my cousin Bella Swan…she's moving in with me today. Bells, this is my best friend Tara Thornton." Sookie said.

"Pleased to meet you, Bella. Sookie has talked nonstop about you." Tara said taking my hand.

"I hope all good." I said with a laugh "Pleased to meet you."

"Oh yeah, nothing but good." she said. "So, what can I get you two?"

"I'll have my usual." Sookie said and I skimmed the menu before choosing something.

"Um, I guess I will just have a veggie burger and fries." I said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were a vegetarian." Sookie said.

"It's ok, it's easy to forget." I said.

"So, what to drink?" Tara asked.

"I'll have a sweet tea." Sookie said.

"I'll have the same." I replied and Tara turned around and put our meal ticket in the window and rang the bell.

"Tara, is your cousin working today?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah, both he and Terry are." Tara said "Hold on, I'll get him to come out if he's not too busy making out on the back porch with his boy toy." Sookie laughed at that as Tara disappeared to the back.

"Boy toy?" I asked.

"Yeah, Lafayette's gay…VERY gay…well, you'll see." Sookie said with a laugh as Tara walked back in with two men, one of which had what resembled a scarf on his head with big hoop earrings, eye shadow and a tight wife beater with loose fit pants. The other guy was Hispanic wearing a set of blue hospital scrubs.

"Lafayette." Sookie said hugging him across the counter.

"Hookah get off me…you know I don't do the hugging shit." Lafayette laughed and the Hispanic laughed as well. "Who's this?" he asked looking at me.

"Lafayette, Jesus, this is my cousin Bella, Bella this is Lafayette and hi boy toy, Jesus." Sookie said and I waved at them both.

"Bella, girl…we gon' have FUN wit' you." Lafayette said and Jesus just laughed.

"Um…thanks?" I said a bit overwhelmed at his openness.

"He means well, Sweetie" Jesus said.

"Come on, baby, we can mess with her some other time." Lafayette said and they disappeared in the back again.

"Wow, that was…strange." I said.

"That's just Lafayette…you'll get used to it." Sookie said. "Come on, let's go meet Sam."

I followed Sookie to the back portion of the bar after we were done eating and stopped at a door marked "Manager". Sookie knocked and heard a man yell "Come in." before she opened the door.

"Well hey, Cherie." a good looking man with shaggy brown hair, a pretty smile and eyes, and a bit of facial hair said. Man, he was kind of cute.

"Hey Sam, this is my cousin Bella…she just moved here for a fresh start from Washington." Sookie said.

"Ah yes, Bella. Sookie has talked about you quite a bit." Sam said "It's a pleasure to meet you." he added taking my hand.

"It's nice to meet you as well." I said with a small blush. Why the hell was a blushing? Hell, maybe it was my horny teenage hormones…but what would I know about that? I was a virgin!

"So, how do you like it here in Bon Temps?" he asked with that pretty smile again, making small talk.

"Well, I've been here a couple of times as a kid…I liked it then to visit. As far as living here? The verdicts still out." I said.

"Well if you would like someone to show you around, I would be more than happy to." Sam said.

"Thank you, that would be nice." I said.

"Well we have to get going, it's almost sundown and we want to catch Eric before he goes to the club." Sookie said.

"It was nice to meet you, Sam." I said.

"It was nice to meet you as well, Bella." he said, that damn smile sparkling again.

Sookie and I made our way to her little Rabbit and we headed to her house. She gave me a warning on the way though.

"Sam Merlotte is a great guy…but don't let that pretty smile and those sparkling eyes fool you." she said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well he's been seeing another shifter named Luna for a while now…a school teacher over at the local grade school. Don't let him try to get you to do anything you don't want to do." Sookie said.

"Um…ok?" I said.

"Just so we are clear…be careful." Sookie said as we were pulling into her driveway.

"OK!" I said getting a bit agitated…I WAS a grown woman after all, able to make my own mistakes and learn from them. "Come on, let's meet this mystery man of yours."

We walked inside and I met Eric, who was just as beautiful as Sookie had described him…if not more so. We chatted for a while and I learned that he was of Scandinavian decent and a Viking to boot. Sookie let me in on the secret that he tended to speak Swedish randomly from time to time…mostly in the time of panic, agitation, anger or just in the heat of passion. Like I really needed to know that…unless she was willing to share that is. I really needed to stop having dirty thoughts about every hot guy I saw or I would ended up turning into the ho of the Bon Temps and Shreveport area…the neighbor town where Eric's club was. I told him I would visit his club sometime and Sookie went with him to Fangtasia…cool name…while I unpacked and then crashed. It was an eventful day to say the least.


	4. Chapter 4

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am so sorry it has taken so long to update but we finally got power back the other day and we have been trying to clean up from Hurricane Irene since then. I will try to catch up on my chapters now that things are starting to get back to "normal". It will take us a while since our county is still considered to be a disaster area by the federal government but the Red Cross, National Guard, FEMA and the Salvation Army as well as other contractors are working hard to get us back to normal…I just hope Katia leaves us alone!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or True Blood but if I did then I'd definitely steal Carlisle from Esme, Eric from Sookie and Alcide from Debbie…they are all yummy!**

**Chapter 4**

**Alcide's POV**

Every day I go to work at the construction company my father and I started and come home to call Summer before heading out to Fangtasia to be on bouncer duty for Eric Northman…it's not a glamorous life but it pays the bills and gives me the means to provide for my angel.

Things were getting harder for Summer, with Marcus and Debbie still beating her pretty bad for no particular reason or completely ignoring her in favor of their other children. It was a sad situation but there was nothing I could do until my lawyer found us an in to get in front of a judge. I just had to bide my time and hope that in came soon.

Today, however, was yet another dramatic day that only made me wish we could see a judge SOONER rather than later. It started off with a phone call from the school saying that Summer hadn't had any lunch money for over a week and couldn't eat lunch. I went out to the school and personally put $100 dollars in her lunch account so that she wouldn't have to worry about that bitch Debbie not feeding her…where the hell was my child support money going if not for Summer? She was no doubt using it to fund her and Marcus's V addictions…and that's SAD that Summer meant so little to her. All Summer was to Debbie was extra cash in her pocket and a bargaining chip to try to get me to go give her some when she and Marcus were having problems…not anymore. I called Debbie furious at the entire situation after I left the school.

"Hello?" Debbie answered.

"Debbie do you mind telling me why the hell the school called me and said that Summer hadn't eaten lunch in over a week?" I asked cutting right to the chase.

"That's bull shit…I send money with her every day her teacher must be taking it." she said and I could tell she was lying by the defensive tone in her voice.

"Debbie I know you are lying because I KNOW her teacher wouldn't do such a thing…I know Luna very well and she's not that type of person…you are just accusing her of such things because she and Marcus are on bad terms." I said.

"Leave him out of this…that is none of your fucking business anyway." she said.

"Where's all that money going that I send you for Summer?" I asked.

"Stuff…for Summer." she snapped.

"What kind of stuff because she damn sure doesn't have any new clothes…at least not there anyway…she's in desperate need of new shoes and glasses for school…I can tell you don't feed her when she is there because she eats nonstop when she gets to my house so where the hell is it going Debbie?" I snapped back "It BETTER not be going to fund you and Marcus's addiction."

"What Marcus and I do is none of your concern Alcide Herveaux…it stopped being your concern when we got divorced." she spat.

"It IS my concern Debbie when my daughter is being put around that shit." I said.

"I will put MY daughter around whatever shit I feel like and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." she yelled into the phone.

"Whatever Debbie…I don't want to argue…let me talk to Summer." I said.

"NO!" she snapped again. "You will not talk to her or see her until I say you can and that may be a while."

"Debbie you know you can't do that…the courts told you that you have to let me talk to her when I call and you have to let me see her for my visitations." I said.

"We'll see about that." she said and hung up.

"BITCH!" I screamed into the air of my empty house. I dialed the number back and she had obviously taken the phone off the hook because there was a busy signal. I tried a few more times and the same thing. I was furious at that point that she had the audacity to say that I couldn't speak to or see my daughter. I drove out to her house and was met outside by Marcus with a baseball bat.

"Alcide…you best be leaving before I give you a taste of this here bat and call the cops…you know you can't see Summer but on your weekends…and Debbie made it perfectly clear you aren't going to see her until she says you can." Marcus growled.

"Move Marcus or I will move you myself." I growled back.

"Go ahead…it'll only look bad on you in the long run when Debbie takes you back to court for full custody of Summer…and besides Summer's not here." Marcus said with a shit eating grin on his face.

"You had best wipe that stupid fucking grin off your face and tell me where the hell my daughter is." I growled again.

"Debbie took her somewhere safe…now run along ol' dog…run along!" Marcus said antagonizing me. I could've done so much to him but I refused to let him bait me and then I do something that could make me lose Summer forever. I turned and walked away. "That's the best thing you could have done you fucking pussy…turn and walk away." he said with a laugh behind my back. I growled loudly in warning before getting in my truck and driving home…ugh! Why the hell did they have to be so fucking difficult? I called my lawyer when I got home.

"Darrell, it's Alcide…how much longer 'til we can see a judge?" I asked.

"I'm working on it Alcide, I promise." he said. "What's she doing now?"

"I got a call from the school she's not sending money with her for lunch…hasn't in over a week. And now to make matters worse she's run off with her somewhere and refuses to let me see her or talk to her." I said.

"Just keep that hot head of yours cool Alcide and let me think of something…I'll call you when I get an in with the judge…please just keep your cool and call me when she lets you talk to her or see her." he said.

"I'll try but Darrell this is my baby girl…I can't just NOT talk to her and see her…there has to be SOMETHING you can do." I said.

"I can call her and put some pressure on her and Marcus for breaking court order but other than that my hands are tied because as of right now she has primary custody." he said and I groaned. "It's a shitty situation, trust me I know but it's the best we have right now until we get to the judge…we have enough to take all rights from Debbie."

"OK…I'll try to keep cool." I said.

"Please do…getting yourself arrested does nothing for your case." he said. I thanked Darrell and hung up the phone before heading out to the bar for my shift.

For the next month and a half Debbie refused to let me both see and talk to Summer and it was getting harder and harder to keep my cool. It wasn't until almost 2 months had passed that Debbie finally let me talk to Summer and keep her on my weekend. I guess her and Marcus were having problems again for that was the only time that she was actually nice to me since our divorce. I was so happy to see my baby girl that we went to spend the weekend in New Orleans…Eric was surprisingly understandable about the entire situation, having been a father in his human life.

"So, what do you want to do this weekend baby girl?" I asked Summer on our way to New Orleans.

"I don't know Daddy…I am just happy Mommy let me see you. She and Marcus were being mean to me…I asked them to talk to you and they hit me…they said you were being bad and needed to be punished." she said.

"You don't worry about that…I'm being good, your Mommy and Marcus were being bad. Don't worry, it will all be over soon and you will be living with me all the time…do you still want that?" I asked and she nodded excitedly.

"PLEASE!" she begged.

"As soon as Mr. Darrell can let us see the judge then I will try very hard to get it to where you can live with me all the time." I said and she squealed.

"I hope it's soon Daddy, I don't like it at Mommy and Marcus's house…they are mean and they let Lilly and Junior do whatever they want to…I can't." she said "Emma is the only one who is nice to me Daddy…I like her Mom too…Ms. Luna is nice."

"She is very nice sweetheart." I said. "I promise, pumpkin…I am working as hard as I can to get you with me."

"OK, Daddy!" she said "Can we get ice cream?"

"Sure, baby girl…what kind do you want?" I asked.

"I want chocolate with sprinkles…can we get that?" she asked bouncing in her seat slightly. It was an adorable sight.

"Sure, baby…let me find somewhere." I said. We pulled into one of the many ice cream shops in New Orleans and I got her a couple of scoops of chocolate ice cream with sprinkle. She ate her ice cream happily and it was so cute to see her with chocolate all over her face. After we were done with the ice cream we decided to go shopping for some clothes and toys before heading back to Shreveport.

"Daddy, can we go fishing tomorrow?" Summer asked, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, baby girl…first thing in the morning if you would like." I said and that was exactly what we did all day the next day until I unfortunately had to take her back to Debbie's house. She cried all the way there and refused to let go of my leg when we got to the door. It was absolutely heartbreaking. I needed to see the judge and I needed to see the judge right THEN before I lost my sanity. Sitting and waiting was for the birds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Now that I have finished my Bella/Alec fic I can devote more time to this one which is I must note it based on the relationship up and downs that my husband and I have. Every part of this story leading up to Alcide and Bella finally getting together is true (though some has been changed a bit) and I based the character of Summer, Alcide's daughter on my oldest angel who I am in the process of adopting as we speak. I wanted to show the truth behind divorce and exactly what both my husband and his little girl had to go through up until meeting me. I chose Alcide for the pairing with Bella because he reminds me a lot of my hubby. With all that being said, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood their characters belong to Stephanie Meyer and Charlaine Harris. If it were up to me I would TOTALLY own Carlisle Cullen from Twilight and BOTH Eric Northman and Alcide Herveaux from True Blood…yum!**

**Chapter 5**

**Bella's POV**

I had been in Bon Temps for almost a month and I was absolutely loving it there. I hung out with Lafayette and Jesus a lot, dabbling a bit in something called V…or vampire blood, it was some trippy shit. I felt strong as an ox and unstoppable, after almost getting addicted to the shit I decided I needed to stop using it and get on the straight and narrow. After I made that decision, Sookie helped me get a job working as a waitress at Merlotte's with her very sexy boss, Sam.

To say there was tension when Sam and I worked together would be an understatement. Every time we worked together, or he called me into his office to talk, the sexual tension was so thick you could cut it with a dull ass knife. I didn't want to screw my chances of keeping my job and Sam had a girlfriend. The thing is, I could tell he was feeling something between us as well…even if it was just lust. I didn't think of Sam Merlotte as boyfriend material, but every part of me screamed to have him inside of me…which says a lot considering I was a virgin at the time…and Sam knew this.

We danced around each other for the longest time because every time I was near him it took every ounce of energy I had not to just jump him right then and there and have him screw my brains out. GOD! I felt like a slut! It was just sex though, right? I tried to avoid having those dirty thoughts about my boss but things were getting harder and harder the more I worked with him and I could tell the same for him. We finally gave in and talked about this lustful situation one night when we were closing together…if you could call it talking, that is.

I had just let Sookie and Lafayette out and after Sookie gave me yet another warning to keep my legs closed, as if I were some sort of slut, I locked the door and it was just Sam and I left. Sam was in the office finishing up the paperwork for the deposit of the night's earnings and I was cleaning up the bar area. When I was done I went back to the office to ask if their was anything else he needed me to do before I headed out.

"Hey Sam, I'm all done cleaning up. Is there anything else you need me to do before I head out?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact there is, Cherie." he said with that sexy smile of his that made my lady parts tingle. I swear I needed to find a man who wasn't taken and stop lusting over my taken boss. "I seemed to have kicked the cord out of the socket for my computer and you are a bit smaller than I am…will you plug it back in for me?" he asked and I nodded walking over to his desk. He scooted his chair back and I got down on my hands and knees, back to Sam, before crawling under the desk and plugging the computer back in. I heard Sam let out a barely audible groan that made me grin. I wiggled my butt, without thinking and he groaned a bit louder. I heard his chair squeak a bit, no doubt adjusting himself, and I smiled. I finally stood up and faced Sam, I started to say something but all words left when I saw him looking at me through hooded eyes. That had to be the SEXIEST thing in the world. He pulled me into his lap before I could object and his massive erection pressed into my center through our clothes.

I think that's when I lost it. I crashed my lips against Sam's and he deepened the kiss as I fisted my hands through his shaggy brown hair. I moaned against his lips as he ground his erections into me, all thoughts of consequences were out the window at that point. All coherent thoughts all together were out the window. We continued kissing as his hands made their way under my shirt to unhook my bra and cup my breasts, my nipples hardening as he did.

"Do you want me, Bella?" he growled in my ear.

"MMM Yes, Sam! I want you." I moaned.

"Are you sure this is how your want your first time to be?" he asked and I nodded.

"I need you, Sam…I need you inside of me now!" I whimpered as he kissed along my neck and collarbone. He reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a foil wrapper that contained a condom and picked me up and wrapped my legs around his wait, carrying me over to the nearby couch in his office. He pulled my shirt over my head and discard both it, and my already unclasped bra, off to the side. I laid back on the couch and lifted my hips a bit so that he could take my shorts and panties off. I ran my hands under the edge of his shirt and slid it over his head and threw it to the side before making quick work of removing his pants and boxers, freeing his massive erection. And when I say massive…I meant HUGE! He reached down and slid the condom on over his length while rubbing my already throbbing and wet center. I moaned at the touch.

He leaned down and kissed me passionately before pushing himself deep inside of me, I winced at first because of the fact that I had never had sex before. He gave me a second to adjust before he began slowly pumping in and out of me. It took a few minutes before the pain subsided and I started getting into it, moaning loudly with every thrust he made. I felt myself getting closer and closer to the edge with every thrust until finally I threw my head back and screamed his name, coming undone around him. He followed suit a few thrusts later before pulling out, discarding the condom and getting dressed. I did the same. He kissed me once more.

"If you want this to continue, Bella, you can't tell anyone." Sam said and I nodded. "It's nothing against you but I can't let it get out about you and I messing around, that would end things with Luna and I and despite the feelings I have for you, I do love her."

"I understand." I said a little hurt "So what, are we like friends with benefits or something?"

"If you want to be…you call me when you need a friend and vice versa." he said. I was trying not to think of him as an ass because Sam was far from that…but this was kind of a fucked up situation. Even though I knew this, I just couldn't say no to this man…he was INCREDIBLE in the sack.

"Yeah, that's ok." I agreed, feeling like both a slut and a home wrecker in the back of my mind but also satisfied in the forefront of my mine. If that makes any sense.

"I had a great time tonight, Bella, we need to hang out again sometime." he said.

"OK!" I said and we parted ways, I got into my truck and headed home. Like I said before, I felt both ashamed and satisfied…wondering what the hell I had just gotten myself into.

Things with Sam went that way for a couple of months, he would have me close with him at night and we has sex all over the restraunt, and I would call and meet up with him at random places in town to have sex. He shocked me one day when he asked if I wanted to join him and Luna so that we could continue our friendship without her getting mad.

"Sam, that's something I will need to think about." I said.

"It's ok, just take your time and let me know. Luna is all for it!" he said.

"OK!" I said. That night I went out with Lafayette and Jesus to clear my head and got so fucked up on V I couldn't see straight. When I got home to Sookie's she knew I was heading over the deep end.

"Bells, we need to talk." she said when I came home that night.

"What about?" I asked.

"About the fact that you are getting strung out on V and I know about your 'sessions' with Sam." she said "I warned you not to get involved with him, he's got a girlfriend, Bells."

"I know, I know…and he asked me tonight if I wanted to join them." I said.

"Bells, come on…go out with me tomorrow night to Fangtasia…meet some new people…get your mind off Sam and possibly find you a 'friend' that ISN'T taken." she said.

"Sook, I'm FINE!" I said.

"Bells, you never eat anymore, you never sleep…hell Lafayette and Jesus even think you are doing too much V…Sam treats you like a humping post and you just let him." she said "PLEASE! PLEASE let me help you…come with Eric and I tomorrow night."

I thought about it for a minute and then let out a loud sigh before agreeing to go out with her the following night…not that I would like it. I went to work the next morning and tried my best to avoid Sam, but he made it hard being that he was constantly calling me in his office to ask if I had thought about what he asked.

"Sam, I can't do this anymore." I said. "I need to find someone who isn't taken…someone who can actually be with me without sneaking around."

"I understand." he said "We can still be friend though, right?"

"Of course, Sam…you are a great friend. We just won't be messing around anymore…nothing else has changed except that." I said.

"That's cool…it was fun while it lasted though." he said.

"It certainly was, but I just have to do this for me, Sam." I said before he pulled me into a hug and I headed back to work. I whispered to Sookie what I had done and she smiled. I knew it was the right thing to do but I couldn't help but feel lonely again. I think that was the reason I started things with Sam in the first place…I was lonely and he made me feel somewhat special even though I knew he was just using me…if that makes any sense.

After work, Sookie and I went home to get ready for when Eric came out of his cubby hole and our night at Fangtasia. I had been there a few times with Sookie and Eric but I wasn't really into the whole scene. I was going to try tonight…not only for Sookie but for myself. When the sun went down, Eric came out of his cubby hole and quickly got dressed. We got into his Corvette and headed to Shreveport.

The club was full that night and in full swing by the time we got there. I went to the bar and ordered a drink before just sitting there chatting with Pam, who was manning the bar at that point in time. There were people dancing in the center of the room and people sitting around talking at the times everywhere else. I was just enjoying the drink I had and my conversation with Pam when all of a sudden someone tapped me on my arm. It was Hoyt, Jason's best friend.

"Hey Bells, want to dance?" he asked with a flirty smile, I wasn't interested.

"Maybe later, I don't really dance much." I said turning back to Pam. A few minutes later I was interrupted again by a very drunk Hoyt tapping my shoulder again.

"How about that dance?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Hoyt, I just don't feel like dancing right now." I said turning back to Pam who just rolled her eyes and started talking again. He tapped me again not even a minute later.

"Come on, Bella. Please dance with me. Just one dance. I don't mean to bug you, It's just you are so beautiful and I just want to dance with you once." he slurred. I was really getting annoyed. I looked around for anyone to help and the next thing I know the most gorgeous man in the entire world walked up to me and held his hand out for me to dance with him. I quickly took it and followed him out onto the dance floor. Hoyt got a hurt look on his face, and I hated that because he really was a good guy when he wasn't drunk…I just wasn't interested. I looked up at the face of my savior and I was in awe.

He was about 6'5 with a deep tan, thick tousled black hair and beautiful green eyes and scruffy facial hair. He was beautiful. I looked up to him since I was a lot shorter than him and smiled at my savior. "Thank you for saving me. Hoyt's a good guy, but he's an obnoxious drunk." I said and he smiled. His smile was so beautiful that it nearly made me melt right then and there. "I'm Bella Swan, by the way." I added since, he still hadn't said anything…the strong and silent type, I liked it.

"I'm Alcide Herveaux." he said, his voice deep and sexy. Yet again, I almost melted.

"Do you come here often?" I said before catching myself "WOW! That was cheesy…sorry." I added with a blush.

"It's not cheesy, it's a fair question." he said with a smile "And yes, I do…I work as a bouncer from time to time. I haven't seen you here before though."

"I moved here a few months ago, I don't really come to Fangtasia a lot. My cousin's boyfriend owns the place." I said.

"So you are Sookie's cousin…she's talked a lot about you." he said smiling again.

"Really? All good I hope." I said with a slight blush.

"Yes, it's all good." he said and then it clicked, Sookie HAD mentioned Alcide in passing…as her werewolf friend.

"Sookie mentioned you once in passing, when I mentioned that I was friends with a few wolves up in Washington." I said.

"You were?" he asked.

"Well Sookie informed me they are not true werewolves because they can phase on the fly instead of just when the moon is full." I said

"That's not entirely true either…I can phase on the fly and I am a full blooded werewolf by birth." he said "Your friends, can they phase into other animals?"

"No, just wolves." I said.

"Then they are not true shape shifters…true shape shifters can transform into any animal." he said.

"All I know is according to Quileute legends, their heritage descends from wolves." I said.

"Quileute, huh?" he said raising an eyebrow. "I've heard of them."

"My best friend, Jacob, and his friends are part of the La Push pack on the Quileute reservation in La Push, Washington." I said.

"Oh, ok." he said. When the song ended he followed me back to the bar and we talked for a while longer before Sookie told me that she and Eric were leaving.

"Alcide, do you want to come back and hang out with us?" I asked.

"Maybe next time, it was nice to meet you Bella." he said giving me a hug. It felt so right in his arms that I didn't want to leave.

"Maybe I'll see you around." I said.

"Maybe, good night Bella." he said and at that Sookie, Eric and I left. For the next week, I couldn't get Alcide Herveaux off of my mind. Sookie thought it was kind of funny, I just told her to shove it every time she laughed at my newfound crush. All I knew is, I had to see him again, that's why I agreed to join Sookie and Eric again at Fangtasia the following weekend…I just hoped Alcide as working.


	6. Chapter 6

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Sorry it has taken so long to update but I have been busy with work and stuff around the house but I will try to keep the ball rolling.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood but I would love to own Carlisle Cullen, Eric Northman and Alcide Herveaux YUM!**

**Chapter 6**

**Alcide's POV**

After leaving Fangtasia the night I met Bella, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I knew that I had to see her again and a part of me felt that I had made the wrong decision for not joining her at Sookie and Eric's house to get to know her better. It was as if fate had confirmed that part of me when I pulled into my driveway that night to a smoking truck. I cursed loudly before popping the hood, only to find that I had blown a head gasket. GREAT!

I went the next day, Bella still on my mind, to buy a new truck before heading off to work. Or at least try to work…there was something about that girl that called to me though I had no idea what it was. She was absolutely GORGEOUS with her long wavy brown hair and those pools of chocolate brown eyes that you could just swim in. I had to see her again. I had thought several times of just calling Sookie or asking Eric about her but I decided against it, hoping she would come out to the club again.

Fate dealt me a good card the following weekend when she indeed came with Sookie and Eric, along with her friends Lafayette and Jesus, to the club. She walked past me as though she didn't even notice me and it hurt a bit…but then I caught on, she was playing hard to get. I gave myself a little pep talk at the DJ put on something slow, and walked over to her.

"Hey Bella, would you like to dance?" I asked.

"Hello, Alcide. I would love to." she said with a slight blush turning her cheeks slightly pink for a moment. She took my outstretched hand as I guided her to the small dance floor and we danced. "So, how was your week?" she asked me.

"It was long and drawn out." I said and she sighed, moving slightly closer to me as we danced. "I meant to ask you last time, how old are you?"

"I'm 19, you?" she asked.

"26." I said and a look of shock crossed over her beautiful face…I thought I may have lost her there for a second until a smile crept across her luscious lips.

"That's ok." she said. "So, Alcide…do you have anyone special in your life?"

"I'm divorced…but I do have a little girl, her name is Summer and she is 5." I said and she smiled even bigger.

"I like kids." she said. "So, what do you do?"

"I own my own construction company, what about you?" I asked as the song ended. We walked over to sit at a table before she answered.

"Right now, I am working at Merlotte's but I'd like to go back to school sometime to become a teacher." she said.

"That sounds nice." I said. "So, Bella, I was wondering…would you like to go out to dinner with me next Friday?"

I guess I had caught her off guard with my question because she blushed slightly before answering. "I'd love to." she said with a brilliant smile that could light up the whole town of Shreveport. Before I could say anything else she jumped up and ran to the bar, wrote something down and then walked back to our table. "Here, this is my personal cell number…or you can just call Sookie and Eric's house."

"OK" I said and I saw Pam shoot me a look and then pointed to a couple of rowdy fang bangers. "I have to get back to work, it seems we have some rowdy people here tonight."

"It's ok, I guess I will talk to you soon." she said and got up to rejoin Sookie and her friends. I went to break up the fight and then I was going to go back to Bella but she, Sookie and her friends were gone. Well, damn!

The rest of the week was busy. Every night I would break up a new fight, either between fang banger and vamp or any other weirdo who tried to start something. Every day I would work construction and try to beat Debbie off with a stick. I swear, that woman wouldn't take NO for an answer. When Friday rolled around I was a bit anxious for my date with Sookie, it just so happened to also be the night before Fangtasia's Halloween party…how fitting, right?

Fate decided to deal me a bad card that morning when I woke up with my eye swollen almost completely shut, what the hell. I went to the eye doctor and got some drops. Unfortunately the swelling didn't go down until the next day so I had to call and reschedule my date with Bella. She took it relatively well and asked if I was going to the party, I told her I would see her there.

When I walked into Fangtasia the following evening I had to do a double take when I saw Bella. She stood by the bar with Sookie, Jason, Hoyt, Jessica and Eric wearing the TIGHTEST black leather pants imaginable, with a red off the shoulder top that was equally tight, and a leather jacket to match her pants, and a pair of biker boots. She looked SEXY! It took everything in me not to grab her away from her friends and take her into the back room and just have my way with her. I didn't do that, instead I just walked over to the bar and when she saw me she smiled.

"Hey Alcide, I am so glad you came." she said.

"I'm sorry about our date getting ruined yesterday." I said pulling her into a hug. My GOD this woman felt so right in my arms.

"It's ok" she said "At least you are all better today."

"Bells, you never told me you were going out on a date with Alcide." Jason said and Sookie just laughed.

"I'm surprised she hasn't Jay…he's all she has talked about the past 2 weeks." Sookie said and I watched as Bella blushed a deep red. So she had obviously been thinking about me just as much as I had been thinking of her.

"Do you want to dance?" I asked her trying to save her yet again from embarrassment, and she nodded quickly as I guided her out on the dance floor with my hand in the middle of her back. We danced a couple of fast songs before pulling her close for a slow song. I felt the incredible urge to kiss those full lips of hers but I didn't want to rush her into doing something she didn't want to do so I just asked her. "Can I kiss you?"

"Um, yeah…you don't have to ask though." she said with a slight blush…it got sexier every time she did that. I leaned in after getting her permission and kissed her lightly on the lips. Before I could pull away she crashed her lips into mine a bit more passionately, with the same intensity that I was feeling. She trailed her tongue along my lower lip and I opened my mouth to her as our mouths danced together. It was pure heaven. When we finally needed air we pulled back only to hear cat calls from over at the bar. I looked at Bella who was the reddest I had seen her.

"I want to take you out on that date next Friday and Saturday I want you to meet someone." I said. I was planning to introduce her to my sister, Janice and her children Jennifer, Paul and Tim. If my sister approved then the following weekend when I had Summer, I would introduce her to Bella.

"OK, sounds like fun." she said. We danced to one more song and kissed again. I saw her try to hide a yawn as the night drew on and I asked her if she wanted me to drive her home since it was obvious her friends weren't ready to go. She nodded as we headed out to my new truck and headed over to Sookie's place. "I'm not quite ready to go to bed yet, would you like to come in for a night cap?" she asked me when we got there.

"Sure, that would be fine." I said as she unlocked the door and we walked inside. She headed into the kitchen and made herself a glass of iced tea, calling over her should to see what I wanted. I had the same. She handed me my glass when she returned and headed into the living room. We sat on the couch beside each other in silence.

"So, do you have any siblings?" she asked me breaking the comfortable silence.

"I have a sister named Janice who lives in New Orleans, what about you?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I am an only child unless you count my best friend, Jake, who is like a brother to me and his pack brothers who are also like family." she said.

"Oh yeah, your wolf friend." I said. "I wish he could leave the reservation, I'd love to meet him"

"Maybe we can go up there sometime and you can." she said with a smile.

"Yeah, maybe." I said. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you move to Bon Temps?"

"Honestly, it's a long story." she said.

"I've got time unless you just don't want to talk about it." I said.

"No, it's cool." I said "OK, so I fell in love with a veggie vamp…you know the kind that walks in the sun because they are part fairy and drink animal blood…and he decided I wasn't good enough for him and left me after we were together for 2 years. I couldn't take the constant reminders of him so I told my father I needed a change. I packed all my things, took all the money out of my bank account…which come to find out, his sister had added a substantial amount more and refused to let me send it back…and headed down here to stay with Sookie…she's my mother's niece."

"OH! WOW!" I said.

"So, what about you? What happened with your ex?" she asked.

"Things were great for a while until she started trying to hit Summer and I…then she started sleeping with our former pack master and left Summer and I while my father was sick. My father passed a few months later and Debbie acted as if she didn't care. She filed for divorce and ended up paying for everything when the cheating came up in court." I said "Unfortunately my daughter is still with her and is paying on a daily basis for Debbie's fuck up…I have been fighting for custody since the divorce because both Debbie and Marcus are neglectful and abusive when it comes to Summer. It takes every ounce of energy I had not to go over there and kill them both."

"WOW! I'd want to do the same thing if someone were putting their hands on MY daughter." she said "do you have a picture of her?"

I pulled out my wallet and showed her a picture of Summer and Bella smiled. "She is beautiful, Alcide…she looks just like you." she said.

"Thank you, that's my angel." I said "I would do anything to keep her safe."

We chatted for a while longer until Bella yawned again. I decided to call it a night and ended it with a kiss, which she deepened and it turned into a pretty steamy kiss that lasted until we heard Sookie and Eric arrive. After some merciless teasing on their part, they disappeared up to Sookie's room and Bella walked me to my truck, kissing me good night before disappearing back inside. I left that night knowing for sure that this was the girl I was going to marry one day…even though I knew I was getting WAY ahead of myself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I currently have another Twilight/True Blood Crossover in the mix…it will be a Sookie/Paul one…just because I kind of like working with Paul. Why not have her fall for the bad boy wolf…after all he doesn't get much play other than a mention of him and Rachel's imprint in Breaking Dawn. I also have a slash in mind (also a crossover) between Lafayette and…not sure yet, I kind of like the slashes on the Twilight side with Jasper but I think the whole Jasper being gay thing is a bit played out you know? Hmmm…I may throw in a twist and have the only wolf that hasn't imprinted, other than Seth, Colin and Brady, imprint on Lafayette and how he deal with that…hmm…like I said that one is up in the air. I also have another straight Twilight story in the works that will be a love triangle between Edward/Bella/Carlisle…kind of a father helping out his son's girl while he's away type thing he he. I have so many ideas running through my head right now. Anyway back to the story at hand…Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood but if I did I would SO be taking Carlisle from Esme, and be enjoying me an Alcide and Eric sandwich…YUM!**

**Chapter 7**

**Bella's POV**

After Alcide left the house I shared with Sookie and Eric, I went to bed and thought of nothing but him as I slept. I thought of how good it felt to have his arms around me, how every vein in my body was on fire with the amount of electricity that passed between us when we kissed and just how hot he made me feel. I was truly looking forward to our first official date. I just had to make it through the week first, you know?

And let me tell you, the week was HELL! Not only did Sam try to hit on me now that he and Luna had taken a break…he wouldn't take no for an answer despite the fact that he agreed that we could be friends and nothing more. Lafayette and Jesus were trying to get me to try V again but they didn't pressure me after I told them no…instead they picked on me hard for my crush on Alcide and our upcoming date. Sookie and Eric went at it so much when they were home that I almost left to go stay with Jason…but then I'd have to worry about Crystal and I really didn't want to have to deal with that psychotic bitch at this point in time. I just decided to bide my time until the night when I could see Alcide again.

Alcide Herveaux…not that was a man's man there. He was everything that a girl could dream of getting…smart, funny, caring, loving and most of all SEXY…my GOD was that man sexy. It took every ounce of energy IN me not to just attack him when I saw him, or drive to Shreveport when I heard that deep voice of his over the phone. Yes, we had taken to calling each other every day since the night I gave him my phone number two weeks prior. I REALLY liked Alcide…and from what Sookie could tell, he really liked me as well. Eric agreed with her saying that he had never seen Alcide smile so much at work as he did after meeting me. Eric also mentioned that he always asked about me since he knew we all lived together.

When Friday finally rolled around I was both anxious and excited for my date with Alcide. After work I threw my stuff in my locker at lightening speed and almost ran to my car. When I got home I took a quick shower and got dressed in a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a light blue t-shirt. I dab on just a little make up and went downstairs to hang out with Sookie until Alcide got there.

Alcide arrived at 7 o'clock on the dot and he was looking just as sexy as ever in a button up red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elvows, a pair of jeans and his thick unruly hair which I loved to run my fingers through…he was the poster boy for sexy and manly with his well define muscles and broad shoulders. I couldn't help but stare as he stood there in our doorway, looking good enough to eat.

"Hey Sookie, Eric…how is your evening?" he asked Sookie and Eric who smiled and greeted him. "Bella, you look incredible."

"You look the same." I managed to choke out, snapping out of my Alcide-induced trance.

"Are you ready?" he asked, offering his hand to me to which I nodded and took. We headed out to his truck and he opened the door for me before helping me inside. He shut my door and walked around to the driver's side, slamming it shut. "You can turn on some music if you would like, I don't mind."

"It's ok." I said "How was your day?"

"It was ok…I have a ton of paperwork though…I really need someone to bring some order to my office or possibly a secretary." he said as we drove.

"I can help you, I'm pretty good at sorting things." I said.

"That would be great." he said "So, how was your day?"

"It was ok…luckily Sam didn't try to hit on me again." I said with a laugh and he let out a sexy little chuckle. "Where are we going?"

"To this nice little restaurant in New Orleans that I think you may like. They are vegetarian friendly but they also have a good variety for the meat eaters such as myself." he said.

"I don't think badly of you for not being a vegetarian." I said.

"I feel kind of bad though, eating meat in front of you like that." he said.

"Don't…I'm used to it." I said.

We drove for a while longer in a comfortable silence before coming to a stop in the parking lot of a quaint little restaurant on the outskirts of New Orleans. We walked inside together hand-in-hand and the hostess sat us at a table before taking our drink orders to help the waitress out a bit. We both ordered and sat across from each other just getting to know one another a bit better and just enjoying each other's company.

The food there was delicious, and after we both packed away quite a bit of food we headed out to one of the most beautiful parts of the city and just parked. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while before Alcide pulled me close to him in the front seat of his truck and just held me. Neither of us said a word and it was just fine that way…we could say nothing at all and it would still be a perfect evening. As the night drew on I tried to stifle a yawn but Alcide, being as perceptive as he was, took me home. I didn't want our night to end there though.

"Do you want to come in?" I asked him.

"Are you sure? I'm not sure if I will be able to control myself once we go in there." he admitted honestly.

"Nor am I." I replied. I crashed my lips into his in a passionate kiss before unlocking the door behind me. He deepened the kiss as we made our way inside the house I shared with Sookie and Eric, who were thankfully out at Fangtasia that night. We continued kissing passionately as we made our way up the stairs. I ran my fingers through Alcide's thick hair as I tried to get even closer to him, I just couldn't get close enough.

When we made it up to my room I turned the knob, back kicking it the rest of the way open. Alcide did the same to close the door as we made our way to the bed. He pushed me lightly and I landed with a little bounce at the center of the bed. We continued kissing as we let our hands roam all over each other. I played with the hem of his shirt, lifting it above his head. I don't know what got into me…I just needed him so bad in that moment that all my inhibitions just flew out the door. It was nothing like when Sam and I used to mess around…this was deeper…real, even. Once I had his shirt off I tossed it off to the side and quickly ridded myself of mine before he unclasped my bra and threw it over his head as well. He trailed kisses from my lips to my jaw, ear and neck before making his way to my collarbone and right breast, sucking it hungrily. The feel of his mouth on me made me moan loudly. He continued to lick and suck on my right breast while his free hand, that wasn't playing with the waistband of my jeans, caressed my left breast. It felt like electricity was coursing through my veins, much like the first time we kissed. There was nothing to describe this feeling. As he moved to my left breast, again his free hand caressing my sensitive nipples, I felt his other hand find it's way inside my jeans, rubbing my already throbbing and wet center. I moaned louder and louder as he made his way further down my body, trailing kisses.

"Bella, you are so beautiful." he groaned between kisses. He played with the button of my jeans for a second before looking up at me. "Tell me what you want"

"You, Alcide. Please…I need to be as close to you as possible." I moaned.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice gentle but husky all at the same time. "Once we start, there's no turning back."

"Yes" I moaned "PLEASE!"

He unbuttoned my pants and I lifted my hips a bit as he slid them, and my panties off, letting them both hit the floor at our feet. He quickly made his own jeans disappear before hovering over me once again and kissing me passionately.

"Hold on a second, let me get protection." he said stopping the kiss.

"No, Alcide…I need you NOW!" I pleaded with him.

"Are you sure?" he asked. I bit my lip and nodded.

"I'm on the shot…please, Alcide." I begged him.

He leaned down again and kissed me before he rubbed his extravagant member against my waiting center. He pushed himself inside me a bit and allowed me time to adjust before he started thrusting in and out of me. I moaned with every thrust he made and soon I was meeting him thrust for thrust, my release building with every movement. I felt my breath begin to become shallow and I knew I was going to come undone any second.

"Oh God…Alcide…I'm going to…"I couldn't form another coherent thought as he crashed his lips into mine and I felt myself clench around him. He continued to thrust in and out of me. I swear this man was a sex GOD in my book. I could see on his face that he was getting close and I felt another release building up in my stomach as I continued to meet him thrust for thrust.

"Oh god, Bella…so close…come with me, baby." he groaned as his thrusts began to speed up, letting me know he was just as close as I was. I felt myself clench around him again as I arched my back and screamed out his name. The most powerful orgasm yet. He thrust a few more times before growling out my name loudly as he shot his cum inside me with three long burst, his warm liquid coating my womb. I swear that growl was the sexiest thing I had ever heard in my entire life.

We remained tangled in each other until we both came down from our post coital high. Alcide collapsed in the bed beside me, breathing heavily. I couldn't move…nor did I want to. This man was incredible. He rolled over on his stomach and looked me in the eye, his beautiful green eyes glowing a bit.

"Will you be with me?" he asked and he didn't have to say more, I knew exactly what he meant. I bit my lip and nodded as leaned over and kissed me again passionately. When he did, I found myself getting all hot and bothered all over again. Without even thinking I moaned when he deepened the kiss, running my fingers through his soft hair.

"Alcide…please, take me again…please." I moaned.

"Yes, sweetheart." he said kissing me and once again straddling me. He quickly reentered me and began to thrust in and out of me. I moaned again with every thrust he made before I pushed on his chest a bit and turned my hips so that we could roll over and I straddled him, never breaking contact. I began rocking back and forth on his larger-than-average member as he growled below me, I can never express how sexy that sound was. I started really getting into it then, using his cock as a trampoline. I felt an orgasm building in the pit of my stomach and judging my Alcide's breath, I knew he was close as well so I picked up speed. I couldn't hold it in any longer so I threw my head back, arched my back and once again screamed his name in pure ecstasy. I thrust upward a few times before he growled out my name once again and shot his warm juices deep inside of me, warming me from the inside out. When we were done, I collapsed on his chest, not wanting to remove him from inside of me. I didn't want to lose that contact.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" I asked, finally willing myself to separate from him and collapsing beside him on the bed, rolling so that I could rest my head on his chest and drape my arm over him.

"If you want me to, sweetheart, I'd be glad to stay the night with my girl." he said.

"So, I guess it's official…we are together then?" I asked and he nodded.

"That is, if you still want to be." he said kissing me lightly on the lips.

"Oh, I do…Alcide, why wouldn't I? You are all I ever talk or think about since we met." I said.

"I feel the same way about you." he said kissing me again. I let out a soft yawn and he pulled me closer to him. "Rest, baby. We're going out of town tomorrow."

"Ok, baby. Good night, Alcide." I whispered, my eyes getting heavy. He wrapped his arms tighter around me and I felt safe and secure in his arms. He kissed me on the forehead.

"Good night, my Bella." he whispered and we both drifted off in a peaceful sleep. What could be better?


	8. Chapter 8

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews…I might should've mentioned that this is a bit OOC before I started but for those who are wondering YES it is. As you all know, Alcide in the series would not have a child because he can't stand his kind and Bella…well Bella wouldn't be sexing Sam up while he had a girlfriend. But you get the picture, right? It's fiction…just a little fun, you know? On that note…on with the show.**

**Disclaimer: I do no own anything Twilight or True Blood related. If I did I would totally be sharing Carlisle, Eric and Alcide lol.**

**Chapter 8**

**Alcide's POV**

I woke up the morning after Bella and I had our first date and felt a smile spread across my face as I saw Bella asleep on my chest. I pulled her closer to me, trying not to wake her, and took in her scent. It was wonderful…a mix between strawberries and freesia, I think. She looked so peaceful as she slept, unlike the many nights Sookie said she would wake screaming before she met me. I was glad she felt safe enough around me that it willed the nightmares away, there was nothing I wanted more than to protect this beautiful woman from anything that was troubling her.

She stirred above me as I watched her beautiful chocolate eyes open to me and a smile spread across her wonderful lips. She whispered good morning to me and I said the same before pulling her up to me for a kiss. She deepened the kiss and I just knew this was heading somewhere naughty but I just couldn't keep my hands off of her. I rolled us over, thankful we were still naked from our lovemaking the night before, and held her arms above her head as I trailed kisses up and down her body. She moaned and squirmed underneath me with every kiss and caress I made. It was the sexiest sound I had ever heard in my life.

I kissed her lips again passionately before I plunged myself deep inside of her causing her to gasp loudly. I began thrusting in and out of her painfully slow, enjoying the feel of her body wrapped around mine, taking in the expressions on her face as I brought her closer and closer to ecstasy. The sounds she was making and the looks she gave me almost made me come undone right then but I controlled myself until my beautiful, Bella, got her release first. That was all I wanted. I picked up speed as I heard her breathing become labored, her heart rate picking up.

"MMM Alcide…keep going, baby. So close." she moaned out as I continued thrusting in and out of her. I didn't know how much longer I could hold on when I felt her walls clench around me as she threw her head back and screamed my name in pleasure. That did me in as I spilled my seed deep inside of her with a growl. I collapsed beside her, rolling her over to face me as I claimed her lips once again. "That was a wonderful wake up call, baby." she said breathlessly. She smiled again and it was like a light lighting up the entire room.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's get up and get dressed. I need to stop by my place and change before we head out of town. I want you to meet someone." I said kissing her lightly on the lips again.

"OK baby." she said getting up and walking to her closet to find something to wear. She opted to go for a pair of jean Capri pants and a light blue tank top that flattered her wonderful figure perfectly. It took everything in me not to just throw her back into the bed and make love to her again, but we were on a tight schedule. When she was ready she left a note for Sookie and we headed out to my truck, stopping off so I could change before heading to Jackson. I was taking Bella to my nephew's soccer game and to meet my sister that day. I knew that Janice would absolutely love her despite the fact that she is significantly younger than me, something that I didn't care two cents about.

"So, where are we going?" Bella asked on the way out of town.

"We are going to Jackson, to my nephew's soccer game…and to meet my sister." I said. I saw her blush a bit. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"You are taking me to meet your family?" she asked and I nodded.

"Don't be nervous, sweetheart. They are going to love you. Janice and the boys are the only family I have left since my parents both passed." I said.

"So you and your sister are close?" she asked.

"Very." I said as we got closer to Jackson. When we got into town I drove to the soccer field on the other side of town and parked in front of the gate. I took Bella's hand in mine as we walked to where my sister and youngest nephew, Nathan, were both sitting. My oldest nephew, CJ, was playing out on the field.

"Alcide, you big lug. So nice of you to join us." my sister yelled as Bella and I approached. "This must be the young lady you were telling me about."

"Yes, Janice…this is my new girlfriend, Bella Swan, Bella, this is my sister Janice and my nephew Nathan…my oldest nephew is out there on the field." I said and the two got acquainted. We all sat around chatting for a while before half time of the game. Bella went to go play with CJ and Nathan while Janice and I sat back to chat privately. "So?" I asked her.

"She's young…but she has a good head on her shoulders. I like her, Alcide…I think she will be good for you. I can already tell a huge difference in your demeanor any way in the short time you two have been talking." she said "Has Summer met her yet?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to get your opinion first. I thought about taking her and Summer out next weekend when she's there." I said.

"I think she's going to love her…and judging by how she is with my two heathens over there…I'd say she'll be good for Summer as well. Alcide, I think you have a keeper. Don't fuck it up." she said with a small laugh.

"Janice, you know me better than that." I said smirking at her.

"She seems to have had it rough in the past, as you have, so just be good to her and I'm sure you both can heal each other." she said.

"Yes, oh wise one." I said with a laugh.

"You big goof, I'm serious. Don't end up like Eddie and I did….or like you and Debbie did." she said punching me playfully.

"I won't." I said. The referee blew the whistle signaling the end of half time and Bella and Nathan made their way back over to us.

"Mommy, Uncle Alcide, Bella is a lot of fun…can she come play with me and CJ one day?" Nathan asked and Bella blushed a bit.

"Do you want me to come play with you?" she asked him and he nodded excitedly. "Well if it is ok with your Mommy and Uncle Alcide then I will come play with you and CJ anytime you want me to, ok buddy?"

"That's fine with me." Janice said and Nathan looked to me hopeful.

"Yeah, buddy. I'll bring Bella around more and you guys can even stay with me some weekends when Summer is there and you can all play with Bella." I said and Nathan let out a little squeal before hugging all three of us. Bella blushed slightly but wrapped her arms around Nathan. She pulled him into her lap and we sat that way and watched as CJ's team beat the opposing team 3 to 1. We went back to Janice's house for dinner and she and Bella got to know each other a bit more. I liked that they had so much in common. On the ride home, I asked Bella her opinion of my family.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" I said with a little laugh. "what do you think of my sister and the boys?"

"I adore them…your sister is incredible and I LOVE the kids…they are so sweet." she said "I'd like to see them again."

"They'd like to see you again as well." I said as we continued on the road to home. I glanced over at Bella who had a depressed look on her face. I took her hand in my and asked "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I don't want this day to end." she said.

"Why does it have to?" I asked.

"Because I have to go home, I have to work in the morning." she said.

"You can stay with me and drive to work in the morning from my house, if you want to." I said with a hopeful expression on my face.

"Really?" she asked. "You want me to stay?"

"I'd really like you to…if you want to." I said and she nodded. We bypassed Shreveport and headed to Bon Temps where we stopped at Sookie's house so that Bella could tell Sookie she was staying with me and to grab her clothes for work and another change of close. We headed outside and she started to get in her truck but I stopped her. "Leave it, sweetheart…I'll take you, it'll give us some more time and you can come back after work."

"Oh…ok." she said closing the door to her truck and lacing her fingers in mine as we walked back to my truck and headed back to my house. I had to admit that even though I had been with quite a few women since my divorce, Bella was the first to stay at my house. She seemed right at home when we got to my house.

"Do you like it?" I asked and she nodded, biting her lip. "Come on, let's go in."

"Ok." she said. We went inside and I started dinner for the two of us. Bella fiddled with the stereo in the living room, putting on some rock music…not that I was complaining. She made her way back to the kitchen and leaned against the counter as I cooked. "Can I help?" she asked.

"Let me take care of you tonight, sweetheart." I said leaning over to kiss her lightly on the lips. She relaxed against the counter when I kissed her and I knew if I didn't stop that I wasn't going to be able to and then dinner would be ruined. I reluctantly turned away from her and went back to work at preparing dinner. Conversation flowed freely between us as I cooked and I swear it felt as if I had known her my entire life instead of just a couple of weeks. She felt so right in my home…I knew that she was a keeper and I could tell then that I was quickly falling for her.

We sat down a while later to eat in a comfortable silence, with just some light music playing in the background. After dinner we sat in the living room and watched a movie…well halfway watched a movie anyway. We began kissing passionately and that lead to me taking her up to my bedroom and laying her down on the bed.

I hovered over her after we had both taken out time to strip each other and I could see the passion in her eyes as I kissed her lips, jaw, collarbone and moved lower to capture each of her breasts into my mouth. This woman was incredible…and was sure to be the death of me.

She moaned loudly as I slid two fingers inside of her already slick folds, curling them upward to hit her sweet spot, causing her to cry out with pleasure. I didn't know how much more I could take so I quickly plunged myself deep inside her warmth, letting it completely envelope me.

I thrust in and out of her painfully slow, causing her to moan loudly to go harder and faster. I complied fully to her requests, pounding into her quick and hard until I felt her clench around me, her feminine juices running down my length. She smelled delicious. I continued to pound into her and I could feel a second release coming on, and I was close. I continued to pound into her until I felt her clench around me again, pulling me over the edge as well. I spilled my seed deep inside of her and pulled out before collapsing on the bed beside her. I pulled her into my arms and we fell asleep shortly after…it was a great ending to any even GREATER day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: It's been a hectic week for me so I have been having trouble updating all of my stories lately…don't forget to check out my new crossover Hate that I Love you…it's Sookie/Paul. That particular story will have two spin offs to it which are untitled as of this point in time. One will be another crossover between Lafayette/Embry (sorry Embry fans, wanted a change) and the other will be all Twilight Leah/Alice…both slash. If you don't want to read slash just stick with Hate that I love you and all of my other stories. Anyway, on with my Bella/Alcide story. So she's met the sister and nephews…YAY! We are one step closer to meeting Summer….which will take place in this chapter from Bella's POV. Remember this is based on my own relationship with my hubby and his daughter so some of the events in this chapter with the meeting actually happened.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood I just like playing with the characters. I also like living out my secret fantasies with Carlisle Cullen, Eric Northman and Alcide Herveaux and this gives me a way to get those naughty images out of my head ;-) ENJOY!**

**Chapter 9**

**Bella's POV**

Meeting Alcide's sister and nephews so soon into our relationship was a bit of a shock but it added to what I was already feeling for him. I had never fallen for someone so hard, so soon in my entire life…not even Edward or Jacob. It was as if Alcide Herveaux were made especially for me. He was perfect in every way possible…yes, he had a bit of a temper but he tried to avoid confrontation for the most part. He was sweet, caring, smart, funny and sexy. I couldn't wait to meet Summer…she was all he talked about when we were together or talked on the phone.

I spent the entire week thinking about Alcide, we spent time together off and on during the week and talked on the phone when we weren't together. It was getting harder and harder to stay away from Alcide and the feelings for him were mutual. By Friday we were making plans for me to go out with him and Summer…to say I was both excited and nervous would be an understatement.

"So, how are things with Alcide?" Sookie asked me Friday after work.

"They are great…I feel like I have known him my entire life and it feels like we have been together longer than a month." I said.

"Aww…You in love Bells?" Lafayette piped up upon hearing us talk on the way out to the car.

"Yeah, actually…I think I am." I said beaming.

"Yep, she's in love." Tara said with a laugh.

"So what are you guys doing tonight?" Sookie asked once we got in the car.

"Well he's waiting for me there at the house now…I'm meeting Summer today." I said.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

"Don't remind me." I said.

"It'll be fine…I'm sure she'll love you!" Sookie reassured me. "You are GREAT with kids…I think you'll be a great mom someday."

"Thank you…I hope so on both parts." I said as we got closer to the house. I spotted Alcide's truck parked in the drive when we pulled in and the butterflies in my stomach went insane. I got out and walked toward Alcide who pulled me into a hug and a kiss.

"I missed you." he said.

"I missed you more." I replied.

"See you later Alcide, Bells." Sookie said before disappearing into the house.

"Bye Sookie!" we said together before getting into the truck.

"Bella, this is my little angel, Summer." Alcide said as a little girl hopped up into the front seat between us.

"Hey Bella!" Summer said with a big smile. "Daddy, she's pretty."

"She is very pretty." Alcide said.

"Thank you." I said with a blush.

"Daddy, can we go to New Orleans?" Summer asked after she got into the backseat and buckled up.

"Whatever you want, monkey. Why do you want to go to New Orleans?" I asked.

"I want to go to the toy store and McDonalds…there's a BIG McDonalds in New Orleans." she said animatedly, stretching her arms out wide "Like this very big!"

"Really? Can I come too?" I asked.

"YEAH! Daddy, is Bella coming with us?" she asked.

"Yes, baby." he said with a smile, taking my hand across the seat.

"YAY!" she cheered and I couldn't help but smile. We drove for a while before arriving in New Orleans and stopping at a huge toy store. We walked around as Summer looked at some toys. She, like every other kid, wanted everything she saw. Alcide bought her a few things and on our way to the check out Summer stopped dead in her tracks and sat down on the floor with a sad look on her face.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" I asked her.

"I don't want to go home." she said starting to cry. I sat down on the floor beside her.

"Sweet Pea, you don't have to go home today." I said.

"I know, but I still don't want to go." she cried.

"Why don't you want to go home, sweetheart?" I asked putting my arms around her and holding her as she cried.

"Because Mommy and Marcus hit me all the time. I don't want them to hit me anymore…I don't want to go back." she sobbed and I pulled her closer.

"You don't worry about that sweetheart, I know your Daddy is working really hard to try to get you to live with him. He loves you very much and doesn't want anything else to happen to you." I said, still in shock that this beautiful little girl was comfortable enough with me to open up and cry on my shoulder. Alcide had told me what Summer had been though but I never knew just how bad it was until right then in the middle of the toy store sitting on the floor with her.

We started drawing the attention of other customers in the store so I gave Summer another hug and asked her if she was ready to go pay for her toys and go eat something. We headed to McDonalds, which I found out was her favorite place to eat, and she ordered chicken nuggets while I got a salad and Alcide got a burger. We chatted with Summer as we ate and I felt myself truly falling in love with her. She was incredible. This little girl at only 5 years old was incredibly smart, funny, caring and had been through so much in her short time on this earth.

"So, how do you like Bella, Summer?" Alcide asked out of the blue, catching me completely off guard.

"I like her, Daddy…I like her a whole whole LOT!" she exclaimed excitedly. She was so excited at her declaration that she was bouncing in her seat. That made me smile that she thought so much of me after only a few hours.

"What do you want me to do, marry her?" Alcide asked jokingly as he raised his burger to his lips and I took a bite of salad. What she said made Alcide drop his burger and his jaw and caused me to choke on my salad.

"Yes, Daddy! I want you to marry her…please can you marry her so she can be my mommy?" she said with a cute little pout that was hard to resist. I wasn't expecting that.

"Um…" was all either of us could say. Finally after her words sunk in Alcide spoke.

"We'll see how things go, ok monkey?" he told her.

"OK, Daddy! But I really hope you marry her…I really like her…she's nice, and pretty." she said "She'll be a good mommy."

"I think she will too." he said smiling at me, I blushed. "But let's just see how things go."

"OK!" she said going back to eating her nuggets. We headed back to Shreveport a few minutes later and Alcide asked me to spend the weekend with them, which I accepted. After putting Summer to bed later that night, Alcide and I laid in bed wrapped in each other and just talked.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"About?" I said.

"Summer…what she said…everything." he said.

"I absolutely ADORE Summer…she's incredible, Alcide, just like her Daddy." I said kissing his hand which was laced in mine. "As for the other…If we are being honest then I know I'd LIKE to see us being together for a long time and possibly getting married…but it's still too soon to say."

"Yeah…but it would be nice." he said snuggling up to me a bit more.

"Yeah, it would." I said. Alcide leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips before we both drifted off to sleep in each others' arms. The next day we spent the day with Summer. We took her to the park, out to eat at Merlotte's, and Summer absolutely fell in love with Sam when he started playing with her in dog form.

"Daddy, Mr. Sam is silly." she laughed when he came up and licked her hand.

"That he is." Alcide said and I laughed.

"You have no idea…you should see him at work sometimes." I said.

We left Merlotte's and ran into Jason while walking around town. He already knew Alcide so we introduced him to Summer before heading to my place. The sun was going down so Summer, Alcide and I just sat in the living room watching something together on Disney Channel when Eric walked into the room.

"Hey Bella…who might this little angel be?" he asked smiling at Summer.

"I'm Summer…this is my Daddy." she said pointing to Alcide and turning back to the tv.

"Alcide…I never knew you had children. I thought you didn't want any." he said.

"That was a long time ago…before Summer came along." he said.

"It changes thing doesn't it?" Eric said "I remember my daughter from my human life…I remember being so proud to be a father."

"Yeah? I never figured you for a father, Eric." I said.

"Maybe not now…I turned into a different person when Russell killed them." he said . Just then Sookie joined us from upstairs.

"Hey again, sugar." Sookie said to Summer.

"Hey Miss Sookie…you live here too with my Bella?" Summer asked and Sookie nodded.

"Yes, sweetheart. Bella is my cousin, just like Nathan and CJ are your cousins." Sookie said.

"Cool!" she said "Bella, I like your cousin."

"Thank you, sweet pea…I do too." she said.

"Daddy, can Bella stay with us this weekend?" Summer asked out of the blue, catching us all off guard.

"Sure, baby…if Bella wants to stay." Alcide said with a hopeful glance my way.

"Please Bella?" she asked giving me the sad puppy look. Who could resist that? "We can watch Lion King before I go to bed. And you can read me a story."

"OK…who can say no to the Lion King?" I said with a laugh, "Let me get me some clothes."

"YAY!" she squealed and I went up to my room and grabbed me a change of clothes before heading downstairs and we headed to Alcide's place in Shreveport. True to my word I watched The Lion King with Summer and read her a story before she drifted off to sleep. The next day we spent time with Summer a while longer before Alcide took her back to Debbie's house. We both agreed that I would go home to avoid any confrontation that may take place with his ex considering our relationship was still somewhat new and Summer and I were getting close. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and I absolutely ADORED Summer…I surely hoped things worked out between Alcide and I because I was already getting attached to his little angel.


	10. Chapter 10

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am sorry it has taken so long to update but I have been sick and the last thing on my mind when I am sick is to write but I am starting to get better now and I'm here to bring you this update in the lives of Alcide and Bella…be sure to check out my other story Hate that I love you which will have 2 spin offs to it…both slash so you have been warned ahead of time. I have an all human triangle in the works between Edward/Bella/Carlisle…now sure how that will work yet…still in the thought process. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood…all I own is Summer and she is based on my step daughter who I am trying to adopt. I WOULD however LOVE to own Carlisle, Eric and Alcide…they are ultra yummy!**

**Chapter 10**

**Alcide's POV**

After dropping Bella off at her house I took Summer back to Debbie's, dreading every second of it. I told Summer not to mention Bella to her mom yet because I really didn't feel like having her beat the details out of my little angel. Debbie, being the jealous monster that she is, would do just that to get what she wanted. Summer was a bargaining chip for her…not her daughter. By keeping Summer, she had a way to see me any time that she wanted as long as Summer was there and that was just a sick thought. I divorced Debbie for a reason and I am with Bella now for that same reason.

Drop off that day went rather smoothly, despite the fact that Debbie would not stop checking me out. I went home, took a shower and called Bella. I really hated being away from her so much, I just wanted to keep her close to me. I felt that a month was a bit soon to start moving in together but in my heart I felt it wasn't soon enough.

We continued dating and growing our relationship for the next six months, and Summer was beginning to grow attached to Bella. She absolutely ADORED her. Bella, I could tell, felt the same way about Summer and that made my heart swell even more. I decided that after 6 months of being together, I wanted to have her with me all the time. So I took the next big step in our relationship. The funny thing is, it just so happened to be her birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Baby." I told her that night, kissing her temple. We were on our way into the restaurant she was dying to try for her birthday, and who was I to refuse my girl?

"Thank you, Alcide…but really it's not a big deal. I'm not real big on celebrating my birthday…I never have been." she said.

"Indulge me please." I said with a smile as I put my hand on the small of her back and guide her to our seat in the restaurant. We ordered our food and waited for the waiter to return with it when I decided to give Bella her present from me. "I know you said not to, but I got you a little something."

"Alcide…you didn't have to." she said.

"I wanted to give this to you a while back so I decided now would be no better time." I said handing her a little box with a ribbon wrapped around it…cheesy I know but I really couldn't think of another way to hide what was inside.

"Alcide…baby, thank you." she said opening the box and pulling out a key. Her expression changed to that of confusion. "Baby, what's this?" she asked.

"Will you move in with me?" I asked her and her expression changed from that of confusion to excitement in the matter of seconds as she nodded excitedly.

"YES! I will move in with you." she said leaning across the table to kiss me.

"You have no idea how happy you just made me." I said, only one thing would make me happier but that would have to wait just a while longer. We finished our food and headed back to Sookie's house to gather Bella's things and begin our life of living together. Surprisingly when we got there both Sookie and Eric were sprawled out on the couch watching a movie…well maybe not REALLY watching the movie as much as they were making out but that's their business.

"Hey guys!" Bella said cheerfully. "I'll be out of your hair after tonight."

"What do you mean, Bells?" Sookie asked finally coming up for air.

"I'm moving in with Alcide…he just asked me, gave me a key and everything." she said with a smile and Sookie smiled at both of us.

"That's GREAT Bells…just wait, I'm going to be helping to plan your wedding soon!" she said and I let out a little chuckle.

"Don't be planning do far ahead, sweetie…this is just the first step." Eric said wrapping his arms around Sookie. "But I don't imagine that Alcide here will wait much longer." he added with that sly Eric Northman smile…I shot him a look and he only laughed.

We got together all of Bella's things and headed back to my house, officially spending our first night of living together making love and falling asleep in each others' arms. It was a wonderful night. I really couldn't ask for anything more.

A couple of months later and a few confrontations with Debbie and Marcus because of the relationship that Summer and Bella shared, I was ready to take the plunge. I knew without a doubt in my mind that any woman who would stand up to Debbie, love my daughter like her own and capture my heart completely was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I consulted with Sookie to help find the perfect ring and instead of doing the traditional "propose at dinner" deal, I waited until we were alone in bed.

I watched Bella as she sleep the morning I wanted to propose to her and she just looked so much like an angel I didn't want to disturb her. I lightly slid the ring on her left hand and went downstairs to start on breakfast for the two of us. I was just about finished when Bella walked down in just my shirt and wrapped her arms around me. She obviously hadn't seen the ring yet, which only made me smile more.

"Something smells good." she whispered in my ear.

"All for you, my love. I was going to bring it up to you." I said. "It's almost done if you want to wash up."

"OK, baby." she said "I just need to wash my hands."

I went back to finishing off breakfast and a smile crept onto my face when I heard her gasp. She walked back over to me, tears in the corner of her eyes, and wrapped her arm around me.

"Alcide…I…What…."she couldn't form a coherent thought.

"Marry me, Bella." I whispered in her ear.

"YES!" she said standing on her toes to kiss me passionately.

"You have no IDEA how good that makes me feel." I said and she just giggled. "Let's eat my beautiful fiancee. God, I love the sound of that."

"Mrs. Isabella Marie Swan Herveaux….Bella Herveaux…has a nice ring to it don't you think?" she said admiring her ring. "It's beautiful, baby."

"Not as beautiful as you are." I said kissing her before I sat her plate down in front of her. She waited for me to sit down before she started eating. She took one bite of eggs and took off running…what was that all about?

I walked to the downstairs bathroom to find her sitting on the floor, tears streaming down her face, clutching the toilet. I walked up to her and she looked up at me through tear filled eyes.

"Are you okay, my love?" I asked.

"Must just be a bug or something…I'm sorry I ruined our breakfast…I love you." she said.

"Do you want me to call Sam?" I asked.

"Would you, please? I'll just go upstairs and take a shower before I get back in bed." she said.

"OK, my love. I'll call him and come tell you goodbye before I go to work…do you want me to stay?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'll be fine, baby. I'll call you if I need you." she said and I kissed her temple before walking in to call Sam Merlotte to tell him that Bella would not be in that day. He didn't sound pleased but I told him that she needed rest and that she'd better have a job when she got back. I think he got the point after that.

I went upstairs to kiss Bella goodbye but she was already sound asleep so I kissed her lightly on the lips and whispered that I loved her and good bye before heading off to work. I spent the day at work just thinking about my beautiful fiancee and what could possibly be wrong with her. I also thought about Summer and how soon we could possibly take the custody battle to court. I decided to call Darrell, my lawyer.

"Mr. Herveaux, I'm glad you called." he said "I got an in with the judge about a month from now."

"That's good to hear…I just wish it could be sooner…it's been torture hearing

Summer cry on the phone and seeing her cry every time I have to take her back. It's literally killing me." I said.

"I'll keep trying for a sooner date but for now that's the best I can do…we don't just want any judge. We want one that will give a fair hearing and not just grant the mother custody without hearing the father's side or despite the fact that the mother is unfit." he said "We need Judge Paul…or Judge McLinden and if we go for next month we will have Judge Paul."

"Very well. Oh and Darrell? I'm engaged!" I said.

"Congratulations, Alcide. Who's the lucky girl?" he asked.

"Her name is Bella, she's the waitress I introduced you to a while back at Merlotte's." I said.

"She's a sweet girl, very good for you and Summer. You did good, kid." he said. "Well I must be going, I have a divorce case on the ballot today so I will be out of the office. I'll call you when I hear anything new."

"Thank you Darrell, for everything." I said.

"You're very welcome, Alcide. Your father would want me to do this for you…he saw that woman for who she really was from the get go." he said.

"That he did…I should have listened." I said "Talk to you later, Darrell."

We hung up the phone and I went back to work a bit relieved that soon we would be taking the issue of custody of Summer to court. I couldn't wait, I just hoped the judge ruled in our favor. Darrell was right, however, about other judges here in the south not even considering the father's standpoint before awarding custody to the mother regardless of her being unfit or not and I was hoping that Darrell and I could prove everyone wrong by showing that a father could win one for a change. Until then, I would go about my life the way I currently was…spending time with Bella during the week, speaking to Summer throughout and spending every other weekend with both of my girls. Now, I just needed to see if my dear Bella was ok.


	11. Chapter 11

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I felt inspired enough to write one more chapter from Bella's POV so here goes.**

**Disclaimer: After 10 chapters you all should know that I am not Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris, or Alan Ball….though they are lucky to have been able to work with the very sexy men named Peter Facinelli, Alexander Skarsgard, and Joe Manganiello!**

**Chapter 11**

**Bella's POV**

After Alcide agreed to call Sam for me I went up to our room and took a shower before passing out in the bed. I had no idea what was wrong with me, I felt fine when I woke up but when I ate I couldn't keep it down. There must have been a bug going around that I didn't know about.

When I woke up it was around noon, so I wanted downstairs feeling a bit more refreshed. The nausea was still there a bit but I didn't feel the urge to get sick as I did all morning. When I got downstairs to the kitchen there was a loud knock at the front door. I opened it to see Sookie standing on the other side. I stepped aside to let her inside.

"What are you doing here, Sook?" I asked.

"Sam said you weren't coming in because you were sick so I decided to come overo n my lunch break and check on you." she said.

"Thanks, Sookie…I'm really feeling better. I have no clue what was wrong with me. I felt find and then all of a sudden I was heaving into the toilet." I said.

"Come on and sit down. Lafayette sent some soup." she said as we made our way to the kitchen. She spotted the ring on my hand. "When did this happen?"

"This morning, I woke up with it on my hand and Alcide asked me to marry him…I accepted and we sat down to eat. That's when I got sick." I said sitting at the table taking a bite of the soup Lafayette sent. It was really good.

"Congratulations, Bells…it's about time! You two are good for each other.

"This is really good…what is it?" I asked taking a bite of the soup Lafayette sent. "Oh and thank you!

"You're welcome and I'm not sure, really. He said it was something that Jesus made for him the last time he was sick that helped him get better…some Mexican delicacy or something." she said with a shrug "Now tell me, how do you feel now?"

"Fine, I'm still nauseous but I haven't gotten sick since this morning." I said.

"Have you felt like this before today?" she asked and I thought about it for a minute.

"Actually, I haven't been feeling right all week but this was the first time I actually got sick." I said.

"Ok…wait right here, I'm going to call Sam and tell him I'll be a bit longer. I'll be back in a few." Sookie said and I was instantly confused. She was gone about 15 minutes before she came back in carrying a bag from the little drug store down the street. "Humor me, ok?" she said before pushing the bag toward me. I looked inside and saw that it was a pregnancy test.

"I'm not pregnant, Sookie…I'm on the shot." I said.

"Have you had a period?" she asked.

"I haven't had a period in like 2 years…not since I started the shot." I said.

"When are you supposed to go get another one?" she asked.

"Next week." I said.

"Please…Bells, just humor me. If you are not it proves you just have a bug that's taking a bit longer to get out of your system." she said and with a sigh I walked into the downstairs bathroom and peed on one of those stupid little sticks. I waited the amount of time it told me to and then looked at the stick thinking 'It's going to say negative and it will prove me right and Sookie wrong'. I looked at the stick and my jaw dropped…It had a clear plus sign as bright as day on it. "This can't be right." I said to myself looking in the bag to see that it was a double pack. "Double or nothing" I said to myself before peeing on the second stick and waiting the time it said…Yet again, another plus sign. I walked back out to the kitchen carrying the stick.

"Was I right or wrong?" Sookie asked with a sly smirk on her face.

"Shut up, bitch." I said jokingly. Man, I was hanging out with Lafayette too much.

"So…I take that as a yes, I was right." she said with a smile.

"I want a second opinion." I said. "Not that I don't want kids….I just want a second opinion before I tell Alcide, on the day we got engaged, that I'm carrying his kid."

"Well there's a clinic in Bon Temps you can go to that will take you in right now. Just leave a note for Alcide and I will take you in. I'll have to call Sam again." she said.

"No, you don't have to." I replied with a shake of the head.

"Bella, you're my cousin…I want to." she said and we got into her little car and drove back to Bon Temps. Sam wasn't too happy about her calling out for the rest of the day but he hoped I felt better soon. We arrived at a little clinic in Bon Temps and I signed in and waited my turn. When the nurse called my name, Sookie walked back with me.

"So, Miss Swan…what brings you here today?" the doctor asked once I was in an exam room.

"I've been feeling sick so my cousin here insisted I take a pregnancy test…I took two and they both showed up positive. I don't understand, I am on the shot. I'm not due for another week to get it redone." I said.

"Let me take a look at your chart here, we had your records faxed from your primary." he said reading over the file "It seems you actually missed your shot for almost 3 months straight. You were due for this month last week."

I thought about it and it hit me that it was around the time that Alcide and I had moved in together when I was due for my shot. I must have forgotten and in all this mess with Summer and moving and all that I forgot to keep up with it. SHIT!

"I didn't realize, I've had a lot going on the past 3 months." I said.

"Well let's confirm this through blood work and what not and I will do an ultrasound, if you are in fact pregnant, to get measurements and a due date." he said before leaving the room. A nurse came in and drew blood before handing me a cup to pee in…again. I did as I was told and came back to my room where Sookie was sitting reading a magazine.

"So, you forgot your shot for 3 months?" Sookie asked stating the obvious.

"Oh can it, Sook." I said jokingly.

"If you are then that would be cool!" she said "I don't know if Alcide told you or not but he never really wanted kids because he hates his kind."

"But…"I started but Sookie held up a hand to stop her.

"Accidents happen…he wouldn't change having Summer for anything in the world." she said "He told me once after Summer was born that he wished he had never said he never wanted kids because she became his world the second he laid eyes on her. He said he would do it all over again if he could…just probably with a different woman other than Debbie." she added with a laugh.

"Yeah…she's something else." I said with a roll of the eyes. I really hated that woman.

"You are giving him that…and the good part about it is that your baby will only be half wolf." she said "According to Alcide, in order for someone to become a werewolf both parents must be full blooded wolves. Summer, more than likely, will shift at a later time…but your's? While it's possible, it's not likely."

"I wouldn't care either way. I will love this one just as much as I love Summer." I said.

"I know you will." she said with a smile just as the doctor walked in.

"Congratulations, Miss Swan, you are pregnant." he said with a grin. "Let's get some pictures and measurements shall we?"

He stepped out into the hall and rolled an ultrasound machine into the room with us. He lifted my shirt a bit and squirted some cold jelly on my stomach before taking this wand thing, a transducer I think it was called, and started rolling it around on my stomach. A loud heartbeat came through the small speakers of the machine.

"That would be your heartbeat." he said and I nodded. He moved the ball a bit more and a fainter, but still pretty loud, and faster heartbeat blared through the speakers. "That would be the baby."

"It's so fast." I said.

"Ah, it's normal." he said "If you look on the screen right here" he added pointing at the screen "That's your baby. Let me take some measurements and I will take a couple of pictures for you to take home."

On the screen was something that looked to be about the size of a lemon but a little bitty head and arms were visible. It was amazing to see that that was growing inside of me.

"According to the measurements, you are about 14 weeks along. Congratulations, mommy…you are officially 3 and a half months pregnant. In about 2 more weeks we can find out the sex of the baby." he said and I was in shock…14 weeks. That would mean that our little miracle was conceived the night Alcide and I moved in together. It was a lot to take in. The doctor printed out the pictures of our little one so I could show Alcide and gave me a 'mommy-to-be' packet with literature one the weeks of pregnancy, what to do and not to do, what to watch for, a sample of different diapers and creams, and a list of medications I can and can't take.

"Hey Doc." Sookie asked before he left.

"Yes?" he said.

"How can my cousin already be 3 and a half months pregnant and she didn't know? I mean she just started getting sick this week and she's not even showing." Sookie asked, it was a legitimate question.

"Well, Miss Swan, Miss Stackhouse. Because you were on the depo shot for so long, your body can take up to 6 months to start having a period again, so that's why you may not have noticed…you weren't used to getting a period. As for the sick feeling? Every woman is different during pregnancy and I will have you know that some women do not show at ALL until almost time to deliver." he said.

"Thank you." I said, still in shock.

We left the doctor's office and I was still in a bit of a haze. Sookie had to physically shake me when we got in the car to get me to snap out of it and talk to me.

"So, 14 weeks huh? That would mean the night you moved in with Alcide was the night this little one was made." she said with a slight giggle.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said.

"Come on, let's go make copies of that picture. I want to show Eric and I am sure you want to send some to Aunt Renee and Uncle Charlie." she said. Oh shit, Mom and Dad! I had told them about Alcide, and he had even talked to them a few times but they hadn't officially MET them yet. How was I to tell them that not only were we ENGAGED but that I found out I was pregnant with his baby the same day?

Sookie took me to a little photo shop where a friend of hers worked and we scanned a couple of copies of the ultrasound pictures before heading back to my house. I quickly hid all the 'mommy-to-be' stuff in the back of the closet while putting the picture of our little miracle in my back pocket. Now, I knew why my jeans were starting to get a bit tight. It wasn't unbearable yet but it wasn't very comfortable either…I guess a shopping trip with Lafayette and Jesus was in order.

Alcide came home a bit early that day and I was both nervous and excited to tell him the news. He walked upstairs and saw that I was laying in the bed.

"Hey, my love. Are you feeling any better?" he asked giving me a light peck on the lips.

"Much better, thank you…must have been some sort of 8 hour bug." I said with a smile.

"That's good to hear. I'm going to go take a quick shower, I was sweating like hell in this heat. Want to join me?" he asked.

"I took one earlier, I'll go start on dinner." I said kissing him again before heading downstairs to start dinner. I was just finishing up dinner when Alcide made his way downstairs.

"You look incredible, babe…you have a glow about you lately." he said wrapping his arms around me and kissing me on the temple.

"Thank you, baby." I said with a smile. I finished dinner and plated us some food before we sat down to eat. I decided to wait until desert to tell Alcide about the baby.

"That was delicious, Bella." Alcide said "I knew I was marrying you for a reason." he joked.

"Now, now…I thought it was because I could fill out a pair of jeans as well." I joked.

"That's an added bonus." he grinned. God, I loved this man…I just hoped he was happy about this news. I knew I was but I was still nervous. I cut us both some pie and put a scoop of ice cream on top before sitting my plate down. I discreetly pulled the picture out of my pocket and held it under the plate when I handed it to Alcide.

"What's this?" he asked pulled out the paper and sitting his plate down. He turned it over to see the picture of our little fetus growing inside of me. "Bella, is that what I think it is?" he asked. I saw his eyes twinkle a bit when I nodded my head. He jumped up out of my seat and pulled me to him, crashing his lips into mine.

"So, you're not mad?" I asked.

"MAD? Why would I be mad?" he asked once we sat down.

"Well this wasn't exactly expected…with all the things that have been going on the past 3 and a half months I forgot to go get my shot." I said.

"So, how far along are you?" he asked, beaming. Man, he was happy.

"14 weeks…so we made this baby the night we moved in together." I said.

"My love, this morning when you agreed to be my wife I didn't think that I could be any happier than I was in that moment but you have yet again proved me wrong." he said kissing me. "Even though I may have despised the thought of having children long ago, when I had Summer I knew that I was wrong to think that I didn't. She is my world and this little one." he said putting his hand on my stomach "will also be my world. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Alcide." I said.

"I can't wait to tell Janice the news…"he said excitedly.

"Sookie knows…it was her idea that I take a test and have it confirmed by the doctor." I said.

"What about your parents?" he asked.

"They don't know yet…they don't even know we are engaged yet." I said. "I kind of wanted to tell them in person but I don't know if Sam will let me have that much time off. If I go I need to go soon because I won't be able to fly in a couple of months."

"Let's go this weekend to your mom's since we can drive there and I have Summer so we can introduce her as well. Then we will go the weekend after next, the next time I have Summer, to Washington to tell your Dad." he said.

"OK! I know that Renee will take it relatively well…it's Charlie we should worry about…and just pray that Seth or Leah isn't home or we will have to deal with them running to Jake while we are there. I can imagine he's already upset with me that I haven't called him since I moved. I've been meaning to but I have just been so busy. I'm a horrible friend." I said.

"You are not a horrible friend…he's up there, you are down here. People drift apart sometimes because of life…that doesn't mean you love them any less, it just means that you won't be in contact as much." Alcide said pulling me into him.

"Thank you, Baby…that made me feel a bit better." I said. "SO! When do you want to tell your sister?"

We talked about how we would go about telling everyone. We would announce our engagement and pregnancy to Janice the next day at dinner and everyone else that we were in contact here in Bon Temps and Shreveport as we saw them. We decided go to Jacksonville that Friday, after we picked up Summer, and come home Sunday morning to tell Renee and Phil the news. We were going to make them swear to secrecy until we got the chance to tell Charlie. We were heading up to Forks in 2 weeks after my 16 week check up, when we have Summer. We will be flying out on Friday and flying back Sunday morning early. By that time I will be able to call Renee and tell her the sex of the baby. This was all still so surreal. I was going to be a mom…Alcide and I were going to have a baby. Let's not forget we were getting married as well! What a day!


	12. Chapter 12

_**Eternal Flame**_

_**Author's Note: I am so sorry it has taken so long to update…I have been super busy…and on my down time unfortunately my kids have had me going. But here we are again to see how things go with the next couple of weeks…starting with the dinner with Janice and ending with telling Charlie (gulp). Enjoy. I will try not to make the updates so far apart from now on. On another note: One key difference between this story and the true story of the relationship my husband and I have is that Alcide's sister LOVES Bella….my sister in law? Mother in law? They absolutely HATE me…I guess it's how I wish it would be. Maybe I could play on that in future chapters…maybe flip the script and have one of Bella's parents treating Alcide the way my in laws treat me…just saying, it's an idea. Unfortunately, what Summer is going through in the story is what my oldest went through before we got sole custody of her.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or True Blood but I would love to own Carlisle, Eric or Alcide. Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Alcide's POV**_

_The next month was hectic to say the least. The day after we found out that Bella and I were expecting, which happened to be the day I proposed to her as well, we had dinner with my sister and nephews and told them the news. I'll never forget the excited looks on their faces when we told them the news._

"_Well Alcide, you have certainly outdone yourself this time…what's the occasion?" Janice asked._

"_Well actually two things happened yesterday." I said with a smile._

"_Well, little brother…spill." she said._

"_Bella and I are getting married for one." I said._

"_Oh my GOD! That's GREAT! I knew she was a keeper…let's see the ring, see if my little brother had better taste this go 'round." she said and Bella held her hand out excitedly and Janice's smile grew wider. "Very nice, Alcide…you did good. I take it you had a girl help you out?"_

"_I'll admit that I picked this one out on my own but I did have Sookie look it over first…after all she IS Bella's cousin and knows what she likes." I said with a smile._

"_And this I CERTAINLY like." Bella said grabbing my hand under the table._

"_So what else happened yesterday that you are not telling me?" Janice asked._

"_Well actually, after I proposed to my Bella I went off to work. Bella took the day off because she wasn't feeling well…as it turns out there is a good reason for that." I said beaming._

"_I KNEW IT!" Janice said excitedly "I knew it a few weeks ago when the two of you came to see me. Bella had a glow…the same glow she has right now. How far along are you?"_

"_12 weeks…weird, huh?" she said._

"_I remember when I found out I was pregnant with Nathan, I was almost 4 months pregnant before I ever found out. I was on the shot so I was used to not getting a period. I take it you were too?" Janice asked and Bella nodded. "Well there you have it then."_

"_So, you are excited, then?" I asked._

"_Damn straight I am…"Janice exclaimed._

"_OHHH Ma Ma you said a bad word." Nathan said._

"_Sorry sweetie, don't say that." Janice said and we all laughed. "So, Bella…how did your parents take the news?"_

"_Well I haven't told them yet. We are going to Jacksonville to see Renee and Phil this weekend while we have Summer and then to see Charlie in 2 weeks when we get Summer back. I guess we will see then." she said._

"_I'm sure it will be fine." she said._

"_I hope so…it's my first time meeting either of them face to face. I mean I have only talked to them on the phone a couple of times over the past 10 months." I said._

"_Life's been hectic…don't feel bad about that." Janice said._

_We sat around for a while talking about wedding plans and baby stuff before the boys started to yawn and Janice excused herself to head home and put the boys to bed. I was glad they took the news so well. One down, three to go. _

_The following weekend, I picked Summer up from Debbie and as usual she gave Bella the death glare. I finally got tired of her trying to come onto me in front of Bella._

"_Debbie, please stop. You and Marcus are together now and I am with Bella…please respect that." I said._

"_But you know you want this…for old time's sake." she said rubbing herself suggestively. I had to shudder at the sight._

"_No, I don't. I am happy with Bella, I love Bella. As a matter of fact, we are getting married and have a little one on the way." I said._

"_What?" Debbie screamed._

"_You heard me Debbie…Bella and I are engaged and expecting a baby." I said._

"_You are making a big mistake marrying her, Alcide…she's so much younger than you. She hasn't even lived her life yet." she said._

"_She's been through more than you know and had to grow up fast. Beside, she is good to me…she is good to Summer…that should count for something." I said._

"_I still don't like the bitch." she said._

"_You don't have to…but I would suggest that you refrain from calling my future wife names or you will not like the outcome, Debbie and you know it!" I growled._

"_Whatever, Alcide…just take Summer and you and that…girl….get the hell out of here." she shot back before storming inside. Jealousy is a green eyed monster…in Debbie's case an ugly and bitchy green eyed monster._

_Summer and I walked back to the truck and she immediately threw her arms around Bella and gave her a kiss._

"_BELLA!" she squealed. "I missed you so much."_

"_I missed you too, Sweet Pea." she said kissing her back._

"_Are you really going to marry my Daddy?" she asked._

"_Do you want me to marry your Daddy?" Bella asked her, always considering Summer's feelings first. I knew I loved this woman for a reason._

"_YES!" she said excitedly._

"_Why?" Bella asked joking around._

"_Because I love you, Bella, and I want you to be my new Mommy…PLEASE marry my Daddy." she said begging Bella. It was shocking and cute at the same time. Bella was speechless. For a minute there she sat with her mouth gaping open before she spoke._

"_I can't replace your real Mommy, baby, but I will try to be the best step mommy in the world…is that ok?" Bella finally asked Summer._

"_YEAH!" Summer squealed. "Are you really having a baby, Bella?"_

"_Yeah, baby…so I'll need you to be a big helper for me and your Daddy ok?" she said._

"_I'll be the best big sister ever." Summer said smiling before she sat down and buckled up. "Where are we going, Daddy?"_

"_We are going to meet Bella's Mommy and step daddy and stay the weekend in Florida, how does that sound?" I asked._

"_YAY!" Summer cheered and then we were on our way._

_We drove for almost 14 hours before we finally pulled into the city limits of Jacksonville. I could see why Bella's mom and step father liked it here. It was absolutely beautiful. I could also see why Bella didn't want to live here…it was BUSY! Way too busy for my laid back girl. After taking direction from Bella we pulled into the driveway of her mother and step dad's house and cut the car off. After shaking Summer awake I went around to the other side of the car to open the door for Bella and then went to the bed of the truck to grab out bags. We headed up the front steps and Bella rang the door bell. A few minutes later a highly energetic woman answered the door, I assumed she was Bella's mother Renee._

"_Bella, hey baby! You guys come in…come in." she said as motioning for us to come inside. We followed her into the living room where a man was sitting on the couch watching baseball on TV. I assumed he was Phil, Bella told me he was a minor league ball player that stopped playing to coach at the high school._

"_Phil, honey. Put that on pause or mute…Bella's here with her boyfriend and his beautiful little girl." Renee said. "I'm Renee, by the way. It's so nice to finally meet you face to face after the couple of times we have spoken on the phone._

"_It's nice to meet you as well. This is my little angel, Summer. Summer, baby. This is Bella's mommy, Renee." I said introducing Summer._

"_Aren't you a pretty little thing, you can call me Grandma Renee if you want to. If that's ok?" she said looking at me for permission. I nodded._

"_Nice to meet you, Grandma Renee." Summer said running over and giving her a hug._

"_Alcide, she's a sweetheart." Renee gushed. "How rude of me…Alcide, Summer this is my husband, Phil." Renee said._

"_It's nice to finally meet you, man." Phil said standing up to shake my hand. He kneeled down in front of Summer and said "And you too, Summer. You can call me whatever you want to."_

"_Grandpa Phil." Summer said hugging him and Phil beamed with pride at the fact that my little girl was comfortable enough to call him that._

"_Come on in, sit sit." Renee said excitedly and we took a seat on the couch beside each other, with Bella on one side and Summer in my lap. "So, what have you guys been up to?"_

"_Well, Mom, there is a reason behind out visit." Bella started. "Alcide asked me to marry him last weekend."_

"_Really? I hope you said yes to this hunky man of yours. Really Bella, your description didn't do him justice at ALL your man is a hottie." Renee gushed and Bella blushed a deep crimson color that caused Renee to laugh. "I didn't mean to embarrass you baby, just being honest."_

"_I know, Mom." she said. _

"_So, how did he do it? Can I see the ring? When are you getting married?" Renee said firing off questions in rapid succession._

"_Whoa whoa, mom. Slow down." Bella said laughing. She held up her hand to show Renee the ring._

"_It's BEAUTIFUL! Your man is hot AND has good taste…good for you!" Renee gushed and Bella blushed again. She was so cute when she did that…which was often. _

"_So, Alcide…how'd you propose?" Phil asked._

"_Well, I wanted to do something private…you know…just the two of us. I woke up before Bella and I couldn't bare to wake her up yet so I slid the ring on her finger gently and went to make her breakfast in bed. Well Bella woke up before I was finished. When she went to wash her hands she saw the ring. That's when I asked her and she accepted…the funny thing is, when we sat down to eat breakfast the poor girl took two bites and took off running to the bathroom." I said with a chuckle which only cause Bella to blush even more._

"_Oh, you poor thing…what was wrong?" Renee asked._

"_I thought it was just the stomach virus that was going around…until Sookie insisted that I take a pregnancy test." Bella said beaming._

"_I'm getting a son AND TWO grandbabies?" Renee squealed again. She jumped up and hugged all three of us. _

"_WOW!" Phil said. "Congratulations man….not only for finally getting Bella here to settle down but for the baby on the way as well."_

"_Thank you." Bella and I both said together and then we stopped and looked at each other for a second before we started laughing at the coincidence. We sat around chatting for a while and the rest of the weekend was spent on the beach and having fun. We took Summer back to Debbie's, unfortunately, and headed home…that went A LOT better than I had hoped it would. Three down, one to go…and he was going to be the hardest of all. ALL fathers are protective of their daughters but marrying the police chief's daughter, getting her pregnant, and meeting face to face for the first time? Well THAT made things harder. I only hoped for the best._


	13. Chapter 13

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and patience. I am currently juggling two stories right now, this one and my new Jasper/Bella "Love Don't Run". If you haven't already, please go check it out and let me know what you think. Also I am looking for some good stories to read and review so if you have any recommendations please feel free to drop me the titles or authors in a PM or review. Also, I am all for supporting new writers so if you have a new story you would like feedback or a review on let me know. You guys are incredible readers so I would like to return the favor. Now without further ado…finding out the sex of the baby, and the meeting with Charlie. Dun Dun Dun! Also, another note…in case you were all wondering, the Cullens will be making an appearance soon. Maybe not ALL of the Cullens, I haven't decided about that yet, but Alice for sure.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood…Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball all have credit for that, I just like playing with their characters. I WOULD however, love to own Carlisle Cullen, Eric Northman, and Alcide Herveaux!**

**Chapter 13**

***Bella***

After spending the weekend with Renee, Alcide and I were happy to know that they supported our marriage and the baby wholeheartedly. I never doubted it with Renee as she is almost up for ANYTHING. I was worried about how the meeting with Charlie would go seeing as he had only talked to Alcide twice on the phone and he was a bit more over protective than Renee and Phil were. I only hoped for the best.

A couple of days before we were supposed to head to Forks, Alcide joined me at my doctor's appointment to find out what we were having. Renee had been calling all week asking if I had found out yet. She was just as excited as we were. We were waiting for the ultrasound technician to come in the room when Alcide told me what he had decided.

"I've decided that I don't care what we are having as long as he or she are healthy." he said.

"I know baby, but don't you have any preferences?" I asked.

"Another little girl…I'd love a little boy but I'd hate the fact that he would have the alpha gene running through him like I do and I don't want my boy to be burdened with that responsibility." he said.

"I understand. But you know, ultimately that would be his decision. And there's a good chance that our baby may never shift into a wolf being as it's a half-breed and all." I said.

"Very true but with your fairy gene, it may still be a possibility." he said.

"I'm still not sure about the whole fairy thing." I said "I mean yeah, I am a mental mute to vampires and telepaths like my freak cousin but other than that I don't see what other fairy traits I have."

"Your scent for one…you have a very intoxicating scent to all of us supes." he said "Other than that? I'm not sure, you may have to go to the Fae realm sometime with Sookie to find that out…if you want to know that is."

"OK!" I said "Well since you have decided something, I have as well." I said.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" he asked.

"I want to stop in Vegas on the way home and get married…I don't want a wedding." I said.

"Are you sure? I mean what about for Charlie, Renee and Phil." he asked.

"They won't mind, as long as I am happy." I said.

"Well, just think about it some more before we come to a definite decision and if you still feel the same on our way home from Forks then I am all for it." he said with a smile.

"Thank you, baby. I love you." I said and just then the technician came in.

"I'm sorry for making you guys wait, you ready to find out what you are having?" she asked and we both nodded. She squirted the jelly on my belly and rolled the transducer around a bit. Our baby's heartbeat blared strongly over the speakers and I looked over at Alcide who had a huge grin on his face and a look of awe. I couldn't help but smile also. "Here we are…you see that right there?" she asked pointing to the screen to show three little lines at the pubic area. "Congratulations Mom and Dad, it's a girl."

I was happy to hear that we were having a little girl and Alcide was equally excited. She took a few pictures and then wiped the jelly off before printing them off for us and sending us on our way. On our way home we stopped and made copies for Janice, my parents and Sookie. We headed to Sookie's house before we went home.

"So, what's the verdict?" Sookie asked after opening the door.

"A little girl." I said beaming.

"Aww…" she swooned. "Congratulations guys."

"Thank you, Sookie. Oh…since we are here, I have decided I don't want a wedding." I said "Well, it's rolling around on the brain anyway until after the trip to Forks but yeah."

"Well that sucks." she said with a frown and I raised an eyebrow. "I kind of was looking forward to seeing you guys get married…helping plan…blah blah blah!"

"It's not definite yet." Alcide said "It's just a thought for now."

"Exactly." I said.

"Well I hope you change your mind, Bells." she said. "OH! By the way, someone called here for you today. She said she got this number from Charlie. I take it that Charlie doesn't know you are living with Alcide?"

"Not yet…that's just another thing on the list of things to tell Charlie. Renee knew and promised to keep it a secret but you know how Charlie is." I said.

"OH YEAH!" Sookie said with a laugh.

"Did she say who she was?" I asked and Sookie shook her head.

"Nope…but I gave her your cell phone number, I hope you don't mind." she said.

"It's ok…I wonder who it could be." I said and Sookie shrugged.

We chatted a while longer before Alcide and I headed back to Shreveport to make dinner and just spend time together. I tried to roll it over in my brain who might be trying to call me but went to bed not knowing and it sucked. The next day Alcide and I went to work since Sam was giving me the weekend off to go to Forks, he was such a good friend despite our past before Alcide came into my life. I was cleaning up the bar and getting ready to lock up when I heard a voice behind me that I never thought I would hear again.

"You look happy…I'm glad." she said. I stopped what I was doing and tensed up, trying to will myself to turn around. "I know you are conflicted because of the way we left but I wanted to check on you…we wanted to check on you. I wanted to say that I am sorry also. None of us should have went along with Edward's stupid plan. I should've been a better best friend. I understand if you don't want anything to do with me but I just wanted to see if you were ok. I get glimpses now and then that you are happy but most of the time everything surrounding you is black and I never understood why."

I finally willed myself to turn around to be face to face with Alice Cullen, my best friend at one point who left. I didn't know what to say, or do. I wanted to forgive her for leaving but I didn't know if I could. I was also a bit pissed she would just show up like this.

"What do you want?" I said a bit to sharply and she looked a bit taken aback by my attitude.

"I just told you, Bella, I just wanted to see if you were ok." she said.

"I'm fine, I'm happy." I said contemplating what to say next. After rolling things over in my mind I finally decided that everyone deserved a second chance. Alcide taught me that. I knew that if Alcide were here in that moment he would want me to at least talk to her without attitude. "Let me close up and you can come to my house, we'll talk then."

"Ok. Thank you for that much." she said with a smile. I knew I couldn't stay mad at her because a huge part of me missed her terribly still to this day.

"Before we talk…are you alone?" I asked.

"Jasper is with me, but he was afraid you wouldn't want to see him after what happened." she said.

"I forgave him when he did it. He was only acting on instinct…and he was being fueled by everyone's blood lust as well as his own." I said "Did you drive or do you want to ride with me?"

"I ran from New Orleans." she said.

"Is that where Jasper is?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, he's out in the woods in case I need him." she said.

"Well go tell him that he can come too if he would like. I'll be out in a few." I said and with that Alice left. I finished all of my closing up tasks and then headed out to my car to see that Alice was waiting for me with Jasper in tow.

"Nice car." Jasper said.

"A little birdie gave me the money for it before I left Forks." I said.

"Thank you for not trying to send it back." Alice said as we got into the car.

"Oh I tried but the bank wouldn't let me." I said with a laugh "I was still mad and hurt at that point."

On the drive home we talked and I decided to let the past stay in the past and to start fresh with Alice and Jasper…and the rest of the Cullens if they wanted to. After all, I did miss them terribly. When we pulled up to my house I noticed that Alcide was home. Now was as good of a time as any for Alcide to meet two figures from my past…after all he knew everything.

"Just a warning, I AM engaged and as you can tell…very pregnant." I said.

"I know…I saw when you found out and I saw the ring." Alice said.

"Well there's something else…and it's probably why you can't see me sometimes." I said. "Alcide is a werewolf…not a shifter live the La Push wolves but an actual werewolf."

"Well that explains everything." Jasper said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Why Ali can't see you unless you are away from your fiancee and why you smell like a wolf." he said.

"Oh…ok." I said.

We walked inside and Alcide was busy cooking dinner. I called to him and he walked into the front room and pulled me into a hug and kiss before catching Alice and Jasper's scents and holding me behind him protectively.

"Alcide, baby…it's ok. If they were going to hurt me I certainly wouldn't be bringing them home with me." I said kissing him and he relaxed a bit. "Alcide, this is Alice Cullen and her mate Jasper Hale. Alice, Jasper, this is my fiancee Alcide Herveaux."

"It's nice to meet you, Alcide. I wanted to say that I am sorry you had to deal with such a broken girl because of what my family and I did when we left. We took the advice of a moron and thought we were doing right by Bella…we were dead wrong." Alice said.

"Well if Bella forgive you then I guess I can as well." Alcide said.

We sat down together to eat, well Alcide and I ate anyway, and chatted with Alice and Jasper for a while. Alice somehow convinced me to have a wedding instead of going to Vegas and said that she would plan it for me. Alcide agreed to let Alice and Jasper stay with us for a while and the next day I introduced them to the other important people in my life…Sookie, Eric, Lafayette, Jesus and finally Summer. Alice and Jasper headed back to Alaska to tell the rest of the family they could come down to visit while Alcide and I picked Summer and headed to Forks…and boy was I nervous.

When our plane touched down in Port Angeles we rented a car and drove the rest of the way to Forks pulling in front of Charlie's house. I took a deep breath because I knew this was not going to be easy because the first thing I noticed was that Jake's Rabbit was parked right beside Charlie's cruiser. GREAT! If Charlie didn't notice the baby bump through my baggy clothes then Jake would certainly hear it.

Alcide, Summer and I walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. There was some shuffling inside and I heard the familiar voice of my other best friend call out "I'll get it Charlie.". When the door opened, there stood Jake…looking the same as he did before I left. When he saw me his face lit up with a smile as he pulled me in for a hug.

"Whoa Jake not so hard." I said with a laugh and that's when he felt the bump and looked down at my stomach.

"You're…"he started to say but I put my hand over his mouth to silence him.

"Don't say anything…Charlie doesn't know yet. It's one of the reasons we are here." I whispered and he nodded.

"Congrats." he whispered back with a smile. We headed inside to see that Charlie was watching the game with Billy, Sue Clearwater…who Charlie had been dating for a while, was sitting beside him, and Seth and Leah were sitting around the room. Jacob walked over to where Leah was sitting and picked her up and put her in his lap…that was new.

"Look what the cat drug in." Jake said and Charlie put the TV on mute and jumped up to give me a hug.

"Hey Bells. How have you been?" Charlie asked.

"Hey Dad…Dad, this is Alcide and his daughter Summer." I said introducing my love and my daughter in every sense on the word.

"It's nice to finally meet the both of you. Bella talks nonstop about you two." he said shaking Alcide's hand and bending down to hug Summer. I was shocked at how open Charlie was and had a feeling that Sue may have had something to do with that.

"Hey Bella." Seth waved from his chair and Leah did the same from Jake's lap…I would have to ask about that later.

"It seems we have a lot to catch up on, huh Bells?" Charlie said taking his seat beside Sue. Everyone shifted around so that Alcide and I could sit down with Summer in Alcide's lap.

"Yes, actually I want to go ahead and get my news out in the open before anyone else notices." I said. "Alcide and I are engaged and expecting a baby girl in March."

"Um…WOW! I didn't expect that." Charlie said "Congratulations. You better treat my girl right, Alcide…but I don't really have to say that…it seems you already are." Charlie grinned at us.

Everyone said their congratulations and then Jake finally said something that shocked the hell out of me seeing as Charlie and Sue were in the room.

"So, which one is a wolf?" Jake asked.

"W-What?" I stammered.

"It's ok, Bells…I already know about the wolves. Sue lives here now and Seth accidentally phased in front of me one day.

"Well in that case, Alcide is a werewolf…Summer has the gene but we aren't sure if she will phase or not." I said.

"Well that explains why I smelled wolf." Seth said.

"So, now I have a question." I said "What is up with this?" I motioned at Jake and Leah.

"Double imprint." they said together and laughed at the coincidence.

"Double imprint? What's that?" I asked.

"Well, I told you about imprinting…well I imprinted on Leah at Harry's funeral and when she phased shortly there after she imprinted on me…double imprint." Jacob said.

"Cool!" I said "Congratulations guys."

"Thank you, Bella." Leah said softly.

"So, has anyone else imprinted? I mean I know about Sam and Jared and Quilly but anyone else?" I asked.

"Embry imprinted on your friend Angela." Jacob said and I had to smile at that one.

"That's so sweet…too shy people together." I said with a smile.

"Oh you haven't seen Embry lately…that boy won't shut the hell up about Angela." Seth said.

"Seth, language please." Sue said.

"Paul unfortunately imprinted on my sister, Rachel…that was fun to deal with." Jake continued "But it's all good now, Rach has actually calmed his temper down. He doesn't fly off the handle nearly as bad as he did back when you were around."

"That's good…so what about you, Seth?" I asked leaning over to ruffle Seth's hair a bit.

"Nope still single…maybe one day but that's doubtful." he said.

"Never say never." I said.

"So, Bells…when is the wedding?" Charlie finally asked.

"Not sure yet but I ought to warn you guys that Alice and Jasper are back in my life now and she and Sookie are taking the reigns on the wedding." I said.

"What the hell, Bells? I thought you were done with the Cullens and the whole vampire thing." Charlie said shocking me yet again. He must have saw the look on my face. "Sorry, after seeing Seth turn into a giant wold I put two and two together with the tribal legends."

"Oh." was all I could say. "Well I will definitely not be letting consume my life again, but I forgave them for leaving…Edward? Well he's gone so that's good. He got pissed that Alice came to find me and cut ties with the family so we don't have to worry about his sorry ass."

"Well, I still don't trust them but if you forgive them then I guess I can give them a second chance as well." Charlie finally said after much deliberation. "So, how are Sookie and Jason doing? It's been so long."

"Sookie's great…she's still reading minds. It turns out that Mom's side of the family are like fairies or something. She can shook electricity out of her hands as well. Oh yeah, and she's living with a human drinking vampire that can only come out at night. But he's one of the sweetest guys in the world. His name is Eric Northman. Jason…well how to describe Jay. Jay got married…shocking I know. Oh yeah and his wife turns into a giant freaking panther…she and her ex decided to bite Jay and now he's a were panther as well…how jacked is that?" I said.

"Yeah that's weird." Charlie said.

"Wait…there are shifters other than wolves?" Jake said and I nodded.

"Yeah down south there are were panthers, were tigers, oh yeah and just plain shifters. My boss, Sam Merlotte, can shift into any kind of animal imaginable, so can his girlfriend Luna. Weird huh?" I said.

"Yeah…I think I want to visit down south sometime." Seth said "Sounds cool."

"It's different in Louisiana though…down there you don't have to keep the fact that you are supernatural a secret…everyone is out of the coffin so to speak." I said.

"Yeah, I would definitely like that." Jake said.

"Yep." Seth agreed with a nod.

We sat around chatting for a while longer before we headed back to our hotel in Port Angeles. We spent the day with Charlie and Sue on Saturday and first thing Sunday morning we headed back to Louisiana…that went better than I had expected. Now on to see how things will go when I get back.

**Author's Note: There goes a nice long chapter for you guys…it may be a while before I can update again so hopefully this will hold you guys over.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am so sorry for the wait, I got a bit of writer's block that was taking it's toll on me. Thank you all for bearing with me. On with the show. Again, this story is BASED on my relationship with Timmy…but I have added a few things in for twists.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood for if I did I would be in the middle of an orgy with Carlisle, Alcide and Eric right now with Jasper, Emmett and Jason stopping by occasionally. (Sorry I have a dirty mind)**

**Chapter 14**

***Alcide***

I was surprised at how well Charlie took the news of our upcoming baby and wedding. I was expecting to be put through the ringer a bit more. It was also nice to meet her friend Jacob, he seemed like a pretty good guy…although you could sense he was also overly protective of my Bella. Another thing I sensed about Jacob was that like me, he had alpha blood running through his veins and like me he refused the responsibility. He of all people would know how hard it was not to give into the calling though with enough willpower you can…though the wolf doesn't really like to.

After we got back to Shreveport, we dropped Summer off with Debbie and I was yet again hit on by her but like every other time I pushed her away. When Bella and I got home and unpacked there was an unexpected knock at the front door and I could tell by the smell of the visitors that they were vampires. Thinking it was Bella's friends Alice and Jasper I opened the door to find that they were being accompanied by 4 other vampires.

"Hello Alcide…can we come in?" she asked politely and I nodded that they could enter.

"Bella is in the shower right now, she should be down soon. It's nice to see you again, Alice, Jasper…who are they?" I asked politely nodding toward the others.

"My fault, Alcide. This is the rest of my family, excluding my depressing brother, Edward." she said with a smile. "When Bella said it was ok for them to come, I went to Alaska to get them."

"Oh ok." I said "Would you like to have a seat?"

"Thank you, that would be wonderful." Alice said and everyone took their seats around the living room. I stood by the doorway and leaned back against the frame before speaking again.

"Well you all know who I am, I'm Alcide Herveaux…Bella's fiancee." I said trying to break the ice. "And I am sure you know WHAT I am."

"Yes, and honestly that doesn't really mean a thing to us." said the eldest of the group. He was tall with short blonde hair swept back away from his face. "I'm Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife, Esme."

"Ah, the doctor. I've heard of you from both Bella and Jacob when we visited Charlie this weekend." I said. "No worries, everything was good. Though Jacob didn't really offer much because he had yet to meet you."

"I understand." he said extending his hand to which I took. I also took Esme's hand and placed a chaste kiss on it out of respect.

"This is my son, Emmett and his wife, Rosalie." Carlisle continued nodding toward the tall and bulky man with short black hair and the beautiful blonde model type sitting beside him.

"It's nice to meet you." Emmett said as he shook my hand firmly…I knew then he must have been the muscle of the family.

"You too, as is it nice to meet you Rosalie" I said bending down to take her hand in mine and kiss it as I did Esme. Rosalie said silently for a minute and I knew that she was thinking of something but I didn't ask. Instead she felt comfortable enough to finally speak.

"Alcide, I will be honest with you. I didn't really like Bella to begin with when my depressing brother brought her home to meet us but that was mainly because I envied her humanity and I couldn't understand why she would want to become one of us back then. I envied that she could live out the rest of her life, have children, grow old. I was against her and Edward being together from the beginning. When we left, though, I'll admit I was a bit hurt because I was just starting to warm up to her. I am glad though that she changed her mind about becoming one of us, and I am glad that she is able to live a somewhat normal human life despite being engaged to, and carrying the child of, a werewolf." she said.

"Thank you for your honesty. I'm sure Bella would be glad to hear that." I said with a small smile.

"I am glad to hear that Rosalie, and I understand." Bella said from behind us, alerting us to her presence. Everyone turned to look at her and she smiled brightly. "Hello everyone, I missed you so much."

"We've missed you too, Bella." Carlisle said and at that each Cullen got us and hugged Bella before we all took our seats again.

"So, where's Edward?" Bella asked and normally I would feel a tinge of jealously at the mention of her ex-love but if she was comfortable enough to talk about him or even befriend him then I would support her decision. After all, everyone has a first love.

"He is in Canada. I'm afraid he wasn't exactly thrilled about hearing about your upcoming nuptials or about the baby-to-be but this is what he wanted for you…a normal, or somewhat, human life. Vampire free…though from what Alice tells me you are not. He'll get over it." Carlisle said.

"Thank you Carlisle, I hope he does…I wouldn't mind being his friend even if I have moved on with my life." Bella said with a smile.

"So, what's up with the whole vampire situation, Belly? I thought you'd stay away from vampires after we left." Emmett said.

"Kinda hard to do, Em when down here they are not ruled by the Volturi but by the Authority. Vampires down here are about 98% human drinkers and are 'out of the coffin' so to speak. It's not unusual for vampires and humans to interact and know about one another down here." she said. "That and my cousin, Sookie, is living with and engaged to this area's Sheriff, Eric Northman."

"I've heard of him, from before his time with the Authority." Carlisle said "A very ruthless and very feared Viking, he is…though my dealings with him were always pleasant. I'd like to see him again after so many years. It's been nearly 200 years since I last saw him."

"Alice has been to my cousin's house…she and Sookie are becoming the best of friends, perhaps she can take you by." she said.

"Yeah, Sookie and Eric have a theory on your kind of vampires…the ones that are ruled by the Volturi." I said.

"Oh yeah?" Carlisle said, his interest peaked.

"Yes, actually. They seem to think that your earliest descendants are part Fae and that is how you are able to walk in the sun without having to go to ground at night. Whereas the full blooded vampires down here in the south can only walk in the sun for a few hours at the time if they were to drink the blood of a Fae." I said and Carlisle seemed lost in thought for a few minutes.

"That actually makes sense." he finally said. "I have heard of the vampires down here from our son, Jasper, from his time serving down south during the vampire wars. I had often wonder how they would have to abstain from coming in contact with the sun, whereas we could walk in the sun…though we sparkle when we do."

"Yep." Bella said with a smile. "Eric is able to walk in the sun for a few hours after he feeds off of Sookie. Which isn't very often."

"Sookie is a Fae?" Carlisle asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, she is." I said "Sookie is 1/8th Fae on her father's side of the family, which is Bella's uncle. Bella is also 1/8th Fae. They have special powers…Sookie can read minds and has what she likes to call 'microwave fingers' and Bella, as you know, is somewhat of a mental shield."

"Yes, I noticed that when she was with Edward. He was able to read everyone's thoughts but hers." he said.

"That would be why." I said.

"So, are you guys staying down here or what?" Bella asked changing the subject.

"We will stay as long as you want us around, Bella, you know that." Carlisle said.

"Good because Alice is already busy planning our wedding with Sookie and I'm sure they could use some help planning for the arrival of little Chloe." Bella said glancing at Rosalie who smiled.

We all chatted for a while before the Cullens left to go visit Sookie. Bella seemed content after their visit.

"Are you ok with them being here, baby?" I asked her and she nodded with a sigh.

"It's definitely going to take some getting used to, having them back in my life." she said. "Don't worry, my love, even if Edward does come back…I am over him, my feelings will never change for you. I love you."

"I know that, babe. I trust you. And I love you more." I said kissing her forehead. I pulled her into my arms and we fell asleep that way. The next morning we went to our respective jobs and that night I went to work at Fangtasia, which I hadn't been in a while though Eric understood. It seems Eric had a soft spot for my Bella, that only meant he would be more protective of her and I was glad to have him backing her as well.

The next few months were hectic with the planning of the wedding and Bella's due date quickly approaching. My court date was continued due to the fact that the judge we wanted had a family emergency so we had to wait even longer before we could take our custody hearing to court again, sadly.

The wedding date was set for April but Bella was about 2 weeks overdue and I was starting to think that perhaps we would be getting married BEFORE Chloe was born. I must have spoke too soon because I got the call at 2 am just as Eric, Pam and I were closing up Fangtasia.

"Alcide?" Bella said through labored breathes "It's time."

"I'm on my way." I said before turning to Eric and Pam who had heard through the phone. They nodded and I ran too my truck and sped all the way to the house. Bella was downstairs with her bag when I got there. We rushed to the hospital and about an hour later little Chloe Michelle Herveaux was born. To say I was a proud father would be an understatement…but it would've been an even MORE enjoyable occasion if Debbie hadn't have been a bitch and not let Summer come up to the hospital to meet her sister.

Bella and I were married in a small wedding, with our families and the Cullens in presence and Bella and I were BOTH excited to hear that a couple of months later, Darell had finally gotten us in with the judge that we wanted for the custody hearing.

On the day of the trial I was nervous. I had dropped Chloe off with Janice for the day and Sookie, Jasper and Alice all came with us for moral support during the hearing. The first day we laid out all evidence we had in front of the judge and they put me on the stand where Debbie, who like an idiot decided to defend herself, proceeded to make herself look like a complete moron in front of the stand. What was the highlight of my day though was when Bella took the stand.

"Your honor, we would like for Isabella Herveaux to take the stand." Darell said and Bella approached the stand to swear in. Darell went through his basic questions for Bella and then it was finally Debbie's turn to question Bella.

"Just how old are you, Bella?" Debbie asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant but I will be 21 next month." Bella answered gracefully.

"How is your relationship with my daughter?" she asked.

"Summer and I have a wonderful and loving relationship. I treat her no different than I do my own daughter." Bella replied with a smile.

"As a mother, do you not think that I deserve to be loved and respected?" she asked. I immediately thought…what the hell?

"I am not trying to replace you as her mother, I am only trying to love her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated." Bella replied. GREAT answer!

At that Bella stepped down and we were adjourned for the day and set to come in the following morning to finish up and hear what the judge had to say. On our way out the door we were stopped by the lady from Social Services who was seeing over the hearing, and giving her opinion to the judge.

"May I have a word with you?" she asked us and we nodded, stepping into one of the conference rooms outside of the courtroom. Once inside she took a deep breath before speaking. "First of all, good job today. I would like to go ahead and tell you that I am putting it as my recommendation, on behalf of Summer, for custody to be transferred over to you. It's all in the judges hands now but based on the evidence now, I'd say you guys have this in the bag."

"Thank you, so very much." I said beaming. Bella was also smiling excitedly.

"We'll see you in the morning then." she said and at that we left. The next morning we were back in the courtroom waiting for the judge to rule. Darell was getting ready to do his closing argument when the judge raised his hand.

"Mr. Cayton, you can give your closing argument but I've already transferred over custody. Mrs. Bozeman, do you have any final words to add to possibly change my mind on my decision?" the judge said and Bella and I sat in shock as Debbie stood up to speak.

"I may not be financially able to care for Summer but I did give her a new family to love. If you could find it in the your heart, please don't take my daughter." she said mockingly sweet.

"I'm afraid Mrs. Bozeman, I have made my final decision that the custody of one Summer Herveaux, be awarded to Alcide Herveaux and that child support cease coming to you on her behalf. Visitation will be set so that every other weekend, and some holidays will be reserved for you and that you will pay child support to Mr. Herveaux to help provide for you daughter." he said "There should also be a stipulation to this that Mr. Bozeman is to be no where near Mr. Herveaux or his wife during drop off or any other time when Summer is around. With that being said, court is adjourned."

Bella and I floated out of the courtroom as we saw Debbie running past us crying. I wish I could say that I felt bad for her but she brought all of this upon herself for deciding to use our daughter as both a bargaining chip and a punching bag. We went into a side room with Darell to start on the paperwork to transfer over custody and to work on visitation and child support arrangements before we left.

Summer officially moved in with us the following Monday and to say that she was happy would be as big of an understatement as saying that I was. She bounced around the house happily for weeks after she moved in. And she played with Chloe every chance she got, she was such a great big sister. I was glad to have her home.

About 6 months after we got custody of Summer, Debbie called me to meet her one day while Bella was at work to talk about a job offer that Marcus had gotten out of the country in Mexico. Against my better judgment, I agreed. We met at the local park to talk.

"Alcide, I wanted to talk to you because Marcus has gotten a job offer in Mexico that he can't refuse. He's down there right now setting up our house to move. I wanted to talk to you about signing over all parental rights to Summer and possibly having a clause stating that I can get visitation and possibly rights back if we were to come back to the states"

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" I asked.

"Yes. As much as it hurts me, I need to be able to provide for my family." she said starting to cry. Debbie had certainly changed a lot since losing custody of Summer and started to go back to the woman that I was once married to. Out of impulse, I leaned over to brush the tears from her eyes. What happened next was unexpected. Debbie leaned in and kissed me passionately. I don't know what came over me because warning bells and Bella's face popped into my head as I deepened the kiss.

As I said before, I don't know what the hell came over me…perhaps the familiarity and vulnerability of the situation. All I know is we ended up in the back of Debbie's van, half naked with her handing me a condom from her purse. After we were done I felt incredibly guilty and disgusted with myself so much I went home and scrubbed my skin until I saw red and raw.

When Bella came home, I acted as if nothing happened but I still felt terrible that I would stood so low as to give into my ex wife. I told her what Debbie proposed and of course she agreed that it would be fine. After all, Summer was already calling her mom…which only made me feel even worse. I knew I needed to tell her but I just didn't know how and it was eating me alive.

The next day I received a text message that said "Yesterday didn't happen, it was just a quick roll in the hay for old times sake." from Debbie's phone. I immediately saw red, knowing then that she had this shit planned from the beginning and I was even more pissed at myself for allowing it to happen. I knew then and there I needed to tell Bella…even if it meant her leaving in the process. I loved her with all of my heart but what I did was inexcusable and she didn't deserve to be treated that way. I was fearing the worst.


	15. Chapter 15

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: This chapter has to be the hardest for me to write because I have lived it. Yes, my husband cheated on me ONCE early on in our marriage but I later forgave him for it and in the end that horrible experience made us stronger. Yes, I forgave him but I will never forget…though I try very hard to repress that memory for ever since then he has shown me in many ways that I can trust him again. **

**Disclaimer: I do no own Twilight or True Blood but lord knows I wish I could shake the hands of Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball for such wonderful characters and storylines. I'd also love to be in that orgy mentioned in the previous chapter disclaimer ;)Must be the freak in me coming out!**

**Chapter 15**

***Bella***

After Alcide told me that Debbie was moving to Mexico and renouncing all rights to Summer I did a silent jump for joy in my head. I was so happy that we wouldn't have to deal with her conniving bitchy ways anymore. The next day, Alcide called Darell and of course Darell called Debbie to make sure this was what she truly wanted. She agreed.

I had been noticing in the 2 weeks since finding out that Debbie was renouncing rights that Alcide was acting a bit distant and that disconcerted me a bit. When I talked to Sookie and Alice about it, they just said I was overreacting. That was until I came home one day from work to Alcide looking a bit depressed as he was cooking dinner.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked.

"Bella, do you love me?" he asked.

"Yeah, with all my heart…why?" I asked warily.

"Would you love me even if I did something bad?" he asked and I felt my stomach tighten slightly.

"Yes, baby. I will always love you." I said.

"Even if I slept with another woman?" he asked and I felt as if my heart were going to beat out of my chest.

"Why are you asking me this?" I asked.

"Because I did." he said.

"You did, what?" I asked, fearing his answer.

"I slept with another woman." he said hanging his head. I didn't know what to say. I felt all the breath leaving my body, I couldn't even will myself to move, the shock was so great.

"Who?" I finally said trying to remain calm but the rage at finding out that my husband had cheated on me was trying to fight it's way to the front. Alcide pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me. I read the text message from Debbie that said "Yesterday didn't happen. It was just a quick roll in the hay for old time sake." I saw red at that point. "HOW COULD YOU?" I screamed at him, tears streaming down my face. "How could you do that with her?"

"Bella, I don't know why I let my guard down like that…it just happened." he said stepping closer to me. I shook my head for him to stay where he was. "Bella, I never wanted for it to happen…you have to believe me and it has been killing me to keep this from you since it did. I never wanted to hurt you."

"If you didn't want to hurt me Alcide you wouldn't have done this to me!" I screamed at him, hitting his rock hard chest so hard that I was sure I broke my hand. I was crying so hard that I could barely see.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I swear it was the only time…I have never done anything like this before…I'm so sorry." he said, tears now streaming down his face.

"Alcide, I told you when we first got to together that I would forgive you if you cheated on me ONCE…just ONCE! But right now? I'm not so sure…I need time to think." I said turning to leave. I rushed upstairs and in a huff I through my things into a duffel bag. I was glad that Summer was at Janice's house because I would hate to have to explain to my oldest daughter why I was leaving.

"Bella, I understand you are pissed beyond belief but can we please just at least TRY to work this out? I do love you…very much! I love you more than any woman on this planet…that hasn't changed." he said.

"I know that and I love you too…which is why I need to go away for a few days to clear my head and think about what I want to do next. Please don't follow me Alcide…when I am ready to talk I will call you!" I said walking through the front door and slamming it behind me. I couldn't believe it. After almost a year of marriage he had to go and fuck up like this. Yes, I had told him I would forgive him just ONCE for cheating on me…and eventually I might but right then in that moment, I just needed to get him out of my sight. I sped to the house that the Cullens bought in Bon Temps because I really didn't want to have to try to explain to the ruthless Viking my cousin was engaged to as to why he shouldn't kill Alcide just yet.

I didn't even have to knock on the door before Alice came barreling out and grabbing my bags at vampire speed.

"Come in, Bella…come in and talk to me. I saw you were coming and I saw you were upset but I have no idea why." Alice said.

"I really don't want to talk about it in there because I really don't want Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle to kill Alcide right now…he IS still my husband and I DO still love him…even if I do hate him right now." I said.

"OK, hop on…let's go run to somewhere a bit more private to talk." she said and I awkwardly hopped on her back as she sped at vampire speed to a spot in the woods far enough away that the rest of the family wouldn't here. "Now, Spill…what happened?"

"Well, you know how Alcide went to talk with Debbie about her signing over all rights when she and Marcus moved to Mexico?" I asked and she nodded. "Well Alcide…Alcide…slept…with….her…that…day." I said between sobs as I started to cry hysterically.

"WHAT? I'm going to kill that mangy mutt." Alice growled.

"Ali, please. He did truly seem sorry…and remorseful…serial cheaters don't come clean without being caught and they certainly don't regret it." I said.

"UGH! That fucker doesn't deserve you…I knew he was too good to be true!" she growled again.

"Alice, please calm down. I mean, I just don't know what to do right now. Everything in me right now is screaming to run, move out, and file for divorce but then there's still a bigger part of me that is telling me that I do love him with everything in me and to forgive him and work things out." I said.

"Ugh, maybe I am not the one to talk to about this because if Jasper ever did it to me, I would rip him apart and throw his favorite appendage in the fireplace." Alice said and that thought sent a shiver down my spine.

"Well, I don't know anyone who has been in this situation before." I said.

"Sure you do…Talk to Rose." she said and shock overcame me.

"Rose? What would she know about being ch…"I stopped when the realization hit me. "Emmett? NO! He adores her."

"It was a long time ago…but yes, he did…twice." she said "She forgave him both times and they worked through their problems. They've been stronger ever since."

"Thank you, Alice. I think I will." I said sitting down on a nearby log.

"Don't move…I'll go get her. I won't tell her why I'll leave that to you." Alice said before flitting away. I sat there with my thought for a while, trying to decide what to do about the situation before I heard her voice.

"You have to forgive yourself before you can forgive him." Rosalie said softly.

"What?" I asked.

"You have to forgive yourself for everything wrong you may or may not have done through out the course of your relationship before you will ever be truly ready to fully forgive him." she said. "It's going to be hard…but I know how you feel."

"But I didn't even tell you what happened." I said in disbelief.

"I know that look…I know the look of a woman who just found out her husband had cheated on her." she said "I know that because I have been there…twice. And trust me, it took everything in me not to rip Emmett and those girls apart limb from limb and burn them. After spending a lot of time with my thoughts, and talking with Carlisle, I was finally able to forgive myself and to forgive him. Emmett and I have been inseparable since and our love and bond grew even stronger after those experiences."

"But…I don't know what I did wrong. I've been nothing but good to Alcide the entire time we have been together." I said.

"That's what I thought…but it could be the little things. It could be that he is weak willed but you will have to forgive him for that as well if you want things to work out between the two of you." Rosalie said before sitting on the log beside me and pulling me into her cool arms. I pressed my face into her chest and cried hysterically. She sat there holding me like this for a while just stroking my back and whispering reassuring words in my ear. It felt weird, being this close to Rosalie after our history together but in the same sense it felt…oddly good.

"Let's head back, I am sure Alice has already told the family and convinced them, for your sake and the sake of Summer and Chloe, not to kill Alcide. Just know, I am here for you to talk to whenever you need me." she said and I nodded, hugging her once again before she offered to run me back.

Upon entering the Cullen house I was immediately embraced by each and every member of the family. Jasper leaned in and whispered "It will all work out, darlin'. Alcide's love for you is stronger than any love I have ever felt.". I whispered a quiet thanks to Jasper and went up to the room that was supposed to be Edward's but was turned into a guest room and laid down, the events of the day taking it's toll on me. I silently cried myself to sleep and oddly missing having Alcide by my side. It was going to be hard but deep down I knew that in the end I would figure out what would be best for me…and for us.


	16. Chapter 16

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am so sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long but life has been hectic…between family life and switching jobs, I haven't had time to myself nonetheless to write but this new job I have gives me my nights free to write to you, my loyal readers. Thank you all for your patience. Here's another chapter for you and I will try to add again either tonight or tomorrow after work. Thank you all again and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood but I think it would be kind of hot to see some of the Twilight characters hooking up with the True Blood Characters…don't you?**

**Chapter 16**

***Alcide***

I am a huge fucking idiot! I had the perfect thing going with Bella…we were married, had a beautiful little girl, Chloe, and we had sole custody of Summer who adored Bella…even more so than her mother and then in a moment of weakness…a moment I still don't understand how it came to be in the first place…I screwed it all up by crossing over to the dark side. Why? To this day, I still don't understand why I went there with Debbie. I don't understand how I let things get that far. Now Bella was gone and I had no idea where to turn, no idea if she would ever forgive me. I knew I had to prove to her how sorry I was and how bad I felt. I had to prove to her that it was never going to happen again. I needed help, and I found help in the oddest of places.

I was out hunting one night, it was a full moon, when I came across the scent of a vampire in the woods with me. At first I thought it was one of the Cullens, but it was a scent that I didn't recognize so I immediately crouched into my defensive position when I heard a voice in my head say "I'm not going to hurt you. No need to get defensive, Alcide.". I was immediately confused as to who was speaking to me and how he knew me. I stayed in the defense position as I demanded the person show their face. A man, no older than maybe 17 or 18, with disheveled bronze hair and gold colored eyes the same shade as the rest of the Cullens walked out of the shadows and into view.

"I know you have no idea who I am, nor how I know who you are." the man said holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. I snorted. "Could you please shift back to human form so that we can talk?"

I was reluctant at first but eventually I shifted back to human form and quickly threw on some clothes that I had sat off to the side earlier for after I was finished hunting. I walked back in front of the bronze haired vampire and waited for him to speak again.

"Only a few people in my family know that I am here, and I intend to keep it that way until I know that Bella is safe and happy…I heard from their thoughts that she is happy and safe with you…or at least she WAS happy with you. The only one she seems to talk to is Rosalie and she shields her thoughts from me. But your thoughts, Alcide, are screaming at me. I can see how everything went down…and I can see how you are still confused as to how everything transpired. I can also tell how torn up you are about the entire situation. I can also hear the regret and the remorse over your actions." he said.

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me." the man said taking a step forward. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Edward Cullen…as in the one that left Bella in the woods before she decided to move down here to start over?" I growled and Edward yet again held his hands up in surrender.

"I deserved that." he said, hands still in the air. "I could've handled that situation a lot better than I did. I was a fool to leave her to begin with and to leave her in the position that I left her in was less than honorable, I see that now. At the time, however, I thought that I was looking out for her best interest. All I ever wanted for her was to live a happy, HUMAN life…a life that as a vampire I would no be able to give her. But if I hadn't of left her the way I did then she would not have made the decision to move down here and she would not have found love and happiness with you."

"Ok, well…thank you?" was all I could manage to get out.

"You are very welcome." he said "Now, I knew that I would find you out here somewhere being that it is a full moon and all…I just didn't realize I would find you so soon."

"Why were you looking for me?" I asked, cocking my head to the side in confusion.

"I want to help you." he said. "As I said, all I want is for Bella to have a happy HUMAN life and she had that with you before the whole Debbie fiasco…I want to help you get her back."

"What's in it for you?" I asked.

"Nothing…the satisfaction of knowing that Bella is happy, loved and safe." he said.

"This has nothing to do with your feelings for her, correct?" I asked.

"Nothing at all, while I will always love Bella…she was after all my first love ever since being cursed to roam the earth as a vampire, I have actually found a new love…my true mate." he said "That is why I came down here to Bon Temps to begin with…it was just a coincidence that I would run into my family while I was here."

"Really? You found your true mate in Bon Temps?" I asked.

"Yes, I did…she's wonderful. A beautiful young vampire around my age, in human years anyway, by the name of Jessica." he said with a crooked grin.

"Yes, I know her very well." I said with a grin, thankful that Jessica found someone other than Hoyt to spend her time with. "So, how can you help me if Bella doesn't even know you are here?"

"Simple…I was with Bella for quite a while…I had to grovel a few time throughout the course of our relationship, prove that she was the only one for me, prove that she couldn't live with out me…even when Jacob Black was sniffing around, that was before they because like family." he said.

"Ok, I'll bite. What do I do?" I asked.

"First of all…no gifts, she hates when people spend money on her, of course you would know that you ARE her husband after all." he said with a laugh, boy did I know. "Second, you smooth things over with the best friends…if I learned anything from my life with Bella is that she holds her friends' opinions HIGHLY. I would start with Sookie and Alice…save Rosalie for last, she will be the hardest to convince and it is Rosalie's opinion that she will hold at the highest regard right now."

"But how?" I asked.

"That's actually up to you…but you need to show the ladies just how sorry you are and just what Bella means to you." he said "I would say start with Sookie since that's who you are closest to and then go to Alice. As I said before, Rosalie will be the tough one but she is ultimately the one you will need to convince the most."

"Thank you, Edward." I said "I will get started on that right away."

"The sooner the better." he said and at that, he disappeared. Weird. I made my way out of the woods and back to my house to take a shower after my hunt and jumped in my truck, heading toward Bon Temps and Sookie's house.

As I expected, Sookie and Eric were both home but what I didn't expect was to see Alice's little yellow Porsche sitting in the front drive when I pulled up. I thought to myself "Great, kill two birds with one stone and hope like hell that Jasper and Eric don't try to kill me.". I took a deep breath before walking up the front steps to Sookie's house and knocked on the door. Sookie immediately answered.

"What's this I hear about killing two birds with one stone and Eric and Jasper will not kill you….YET!" Sookie said "Not until after you come in and explain yourself and what you did to my poor cousin who is over at the Cullen house with Rose bawling her eyeballs our after what you did."

"Sookie…I really don't know…god, this is hard. I can't…"I stumbled over my words.

"Come in…let's not do this on the porch. Besides, you need to talk to Alice too…and try to convince Bella's brother-like figures inside that you don't need to die anytime soon because they are both PISSED!" she said leading me inside. "Guys, Alcide is here…please let him speak his piece before you try to kill him." she hollered ahead of us into the living room. I heard a couple of male growls before Alice shushing them. Good Girl.

When we made it to the living room, Sookie took a seat in Eric's lap and all eyes were on me. I now knew what it felt like to be a goldfish, on display, for all the world to see what I would do next.

"Well, speak." Sookie said motioning for me to talk.

"I wanted to talk to you and Alice…to show you and tell you just how horrible I feel for what I did to Bella. What I did to our marriage and our relationship. It's unforgivable, I know. I love Bella as much as any man could ever love a woman. The only people I put before Bella are Summer and Chloe but no one else. What I did was stupid…" I started.

"I'll say!" Sookie interjected but Alice held up her hand to quiet her.

"There's no excuse for what I did…though I still don't understand myself WHY I did what I did, I am taking full responsibility because it DID happen and for whatever reason, reasons that are still unclear to me, it happened before. It will NEVER happen again and that is the God's honest truth. This past couple of weeks without Bella has been pure Hell…I can't sleep, I can barely eat. I can't live without her. I want nothing more than to just go to her and convince her that this was a one time deal and I regret it with every fiber of my being but a wise little birdie out in the woods told me that it would be better if I convince you, Alice and lastly Rosalie that I am truly sorry for my actions and that I will do everything in my power to make things right with her. To give her the love and life that she deserves." I said.

"He's telling the truth." I heard Jasper whisper.

"I know he is." Alice said with a smile. "Look, Alcide…when I look into Bella's future all I see is darkness but the glimpses I have of her are happy ones so I can only assume that it's because of you. You have my vote…I know you are truly sorry and I know you will never hurt her again. Jasper and I have your back."

"Å kan mina Gudar, jag inte tro att jag är om att på högra sidan med honom och att säga det men vad helvetet!" Eric growled in Swedish before saying "Alcide, I have known you a long time and I know that you wouldn't hurt a fly intentionally. You, my friend, have my blessings."

"Even though I am harder to convince then the other three, I know that you truly meant every word that you just said. I will tell my cousin the same." Sookie said with a smile.

"Thank you all for your blessings…but how do I convince Rosalie?" I asked.

"She may be a hard ass but she is a romantic at heart." Jasper said "Just tell her everything you just told us and I think you will be fine."

"Thank you, all. I think I will go try to smooth things over with her now." I said and at that I left. I headed toward the Cullen house and was immediately met at the end of the drive by a growling Emmett. I stepped out of my truck with my hands in the surrender position before saying "I just wanted to talk to Rosalie…please."

"She's busy right now…you have some nerve, Alcide. Belly has been crying nonstop for the past two weeks after what you did…she won't eat, she barely sleeps, she's wasting away because of you." Emmett growled.

"I know…and I have been the same way since then. Can I please just talk to your wife? I promise that if your wife still wants to kill me after our talk then you can do the honors." I said.

"I'm going to hold you to that." Emmett growled before disappearing inside. A few seconds later a very pissed off Rosalie came barreling out the door, making a beeline right for me. Before I could get a word in edgewise she planted a hard right hook right into my jaw with a loud crack that sent me barreling backwards a few steps.

"You are lucky I don't rip you limp from limp mutt. But because of Bella, I will let you live long enough to tell me why the fuck you are here." she spat at me.

"I deserved that…and so much worse." I said. "I came to try to smooth things over with you, in hopes that you could convince my wife how truly sorry I am and how bad I want to work things out with her. What I did was a mistake…a HUGE mistake and I wish I could take it back but it happened, for whatever reason…reasons I still don't know myself, and I take full responsibility for it. I want nothing more than to just take her away from here, back to our home and show her just what she means to me. Just what her leaving has done to me…just what this whole ordeal had done to us. I would give anything to prove to her that Debbie means nothing to be…that Bella is the only woman in the world for me besides Summer and Chloe. I miss her so much, Rosalie, and I would die without her. I would rather you and Emmett kill me and piss on my grave than to live without her. I fucked up…I fucked up royally and I just want my family back. I just want my wife back…she is my everything, Rosalie, and I want to prove it to her. I was told that the best way to get back into her good graces was to convince you, Alice and Sookie that I was truly sorry and remorseful. That is why I am here."

I held my breath preparing for the worst after my speech but it never came. Instead I looked up to find Rosalie smiling…actually freaking smiling. Her smile was so wide that I was actually starting to get scared for a minute there.

"Well, then." she said "That was definitely more convincing than the speech Emmett gave me when he fucked up the first time. You've got my vote. You can come in if you want…"

"But, I doubt Bella wants to see me after what I did…" I started and she just shook her head and held up her hand for me to shut up and follow her.

"Just go on up there to my room, that's where she's been all this time…tell her everything you just told me. She's been teetering on the border this whole time…I think this will make her decision for her once and for all. Now get up there before I change my mind and let Emmett kick your ass." she said with a laugh. I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs until I finally found Rosalie's room, it smelled the most like Bella. I knocked on the door and heard a muffled "Come in." before I opened the door. What I saw broke my heart even more than it had already been broken. Bella was laying on Rosalie's bed in the same clothes she wore the day she left me, she looked as if she hadn't slept in over a month, she was skinnier too and her eyes were red and black from crying so much.

"Bella." I whispered and she looked up, crying all over again.

"Go away, Alcide…I don't ever want to see you again." she sobbed.

"Please let me just say something, ok?" I begged.

"You have one minute and then I am calling Emmett and Rosalie." she said burying her face again.

"Bella, you have no idea how sorry I am for what happened with Debbie. I still don't know why or how I let things go as far as they did and I guess I never will. What I do know is that it happened and I take full responsibility for my idiocy. My love, I just want you to come home so that we can work this out, so I can show you just how sorry I am. So that I can show you that you are the only woman for me. Bella, you are everything that I have ever wanted and everything I need. You are everything, my love. You are the air that I breath…you keep me grounded, without you I am nothing and I don't know what or how I can convince you of this but I will fight until the day that I die to show you that what I did will never happen again and I will always love you and do everything in my power to show you that I will never even look at another woman other than you…you are IT for me."

She was so quiet, sobs quietly wracking her body causing me to ache even more just to pull her into my arms and just take the pain away. I knew that I couldn't I just had to wait for her to come to me, to forgive me.

"I will wait for you, Bella. As long as it takes for you to forgive me, I will wait for you. I love you, my love, with all of my heart and soul and that will never change. I will leave you alone now, to think. But just know, I will be waiting." I said and I turned to leave.

"Wait." I heard her say in a raspy voice. "Alcide, please…wait."

I slowly turned around to see her red eyes looking at me. I was almost afraid to move.

"Alcide…I forgive you." she whispered. "I forgave you when you told me…I think I just didn't want to admit it to myself until now. I-I can't live without you, Alcide and this past 2 weeks have proved it."

I took a few steps closer toward the bed, trying not to move too quickly as to make her change her mind.

"I want us to just go back to normal…to forget this whole thing ever happened. I have moved past it…and I hope you have as well." she said.

"But…you haven't come home…you said you never wanted to see me again." I stammered.

"That's only because you've had me waiting for so long before you came to try to win me back…I thought you didn't want me anymore." she said and I closed the distance between us, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Sweetheart, that couldn't be farther from the truth." I said.

"I love you so much, Alcide. Hold me." she said, tears streaming down her face again. I pulled her into me and I held her close as she cried into my chest. We sat like that for a few minutes before she finally stopped sobbing and kissed me passionately. "Take me home…take Chloe and I both home."

"It would be my pleasure, sweetheart." I said kissing her again and helping her out of the bed. We walked down the stairs and I helped her into my truck, ignoring the stares coming from Rosalie and Emmett. When I came back for Chloe, Rosalie stopped me.

"She can stay here, you can come get her in the morning. No sense in waking her right now…she's finally asleep." Rosalie said.

"Are you sure? I mean…"I started.

"She doesn't tempt us, if that is what you are worried about. She may not shift later in life but we can still smell the were blood running through her veins even though she's a half breed. I promise, Emmett and I will take good care of her." she said.

"Thank you, Rose. We will be back tomorrow for her." I said.

"Take your time, Alcide…she'll be ok and you two need to work on things." she said and at that I took my wife home for the first time since I confessed my fuck up.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think and just so you know what Eric said "Å kan mina Gudar, jag inte tro att jag är om att på högra sidan med honom och att säga det men vad helvetet!" means "Oh my Gods, I can't believe I'm about to side with him and say this but what the hell!" in Swedish.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am so sorry everyone for making you wait so long but I have been MAJOR busy between my kids, the hubby and starting a new job I have had hardly any time to myself. The new job allows me to have my nights so I will be able to update more frequently now. Thank you for hanging in there. Let's check on our fave couple now shall we? Another Note: I am not sure how much longer this will go on because I am running out of ideas.**

**Disclaimer: Though I am hopelessly obsessed with Twilight and True Blood, I do not own either franchise or it's characters…though I'd LOVE to have little fun with Carlisle, Eric and Alcide :P**

**Chapter 17**

***Bella***

When Alcide FINALLY showed up at the Cullens house to beg my forgiveness, I had already made up my mind before he ever appeared in my room that I was ready to forgive him though I would never forget what he did and I would have to tell Jasper and Eric…hell even Emmett…that they could have their way with him if he ever fucked up again. I didn't think I would have that problem anymore seeing as we both suffered GREATLY during the separation.

Alcide too me home that night, leaving Chloe to spend the night with Rose and Emmett, and we talked things out. I set out a few guidelines for him to go by until I knew that I could fully trust him again and he agreed wholeheartedly to my conditions. After that, things were GREAT between us.

Well, things WERE great…that is until tragedy struck our family.

Alcide and I were over at the Cullens with Summer and Chloe when Carlisle came home from his job at a hospital in New Orleans and I could instantly tell that he had a bad day. Little did I know that his day was about to rub off on Alcide, Summer, and I.

"Hey Carlisle, why so sad?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, I had to treat a three car crash…one car had two children in the car with their mother. The children were fine, just a few scrapes and bruises but the mother…she didn't make it." he said and judging by the way he was watching us, as if weighing out emotions, I feared the worst.

"What happened to the children?" I asked.

"They are with Child Protective Services at the moment because their father relinquished rights some time ago. They are waiting on the next of kin to come pick them up." he said looking down.

"Dad, you need to tell them." Edward, who shocked me by coming back some time ago and actually being civil and friendly ever since he met Jessica, said.

"Tell who what?" I asked.

"Hey Summer!, Do you and Chloe want to come play video games with me?" Emmett asked, sensing the tension in the room and the lump in my throat grew bigger. I knew it was bad then. After Emmett and Rosalie took the girls in the other room, Carlisle sat across from us on the couch.

"Alcide, Bella…I don't know how to tell you this other than to tell you straight out but Janice and the children were in that accident." Carlisle said and I felt all the air leave my lungs as he said those words.

"Where's my sister?" Alcide said jumping up panicked. I was on the verge of breaking down myself when I felt a wave of calm wash over us.

"No, Jasper…I love you man, but I need to get to my sister." Alcide said trying to fight through Jasper's manipulation.

"Alcide, there's nothing I could do. It seems that she died on impact, she didn't suffer." Carlisle said trying to remain calm. I couldn't help the tears that began to flow freely from my eyes as the reality of the situation hit me.

"W-When can…When can I bring my sister home?" Alcide sobbed, reality hitting him also like a slap in the face letting him know that anger would not help the situation.

"The medical examiner would like you to come in the morning to identify the body but I must warn you, she was cut up pretty bad. In fact, I would not have recognized her if her children hadn't been transported with her." Carlisle said and all Alcide could do was nod as he collapsed on the couch beside me.

"W-where are my nephews?" Alcide asked, starting to get a bit panicked again. "I want to see my nephews."

"Alcide, they are in the care of child protective services right now." Carlisle said "I understand that your sister's ex gave up all of his right to them, is that correct?"

"Yes." he said in a defeated tone.

"Well then you would be next of kin." he said "I told the social worker that I would be the one to tell you about Janice and she agreed to let you get them tonight if you were willing to take them in."

"Can you call her? I want my nephews…it's bad enough they lost their father is a piece of shit but they just lost their…" he started but sobbed racked his body as I pulled him close to me and we sobbed together.

"I can call her whenever you like, Alcide, but I think it would be best if you were to calm down a bit before you get them. They don't know about Janice and if you were to go pick them up in your present condition then it may be a bit harder to break the news to them." Carlisle said.

"We understand, Carlisle." I sobbed. "Don't we, baby?" I added pulling Alcide's head up to look at me.

"Yes" he said almost inaudibly. You could tell that the news had shaken him deeply because I had never seen Alcide this way. I had seen him cry once before when everything with Debbie went down but this was far worse. He seemed…broken now.

"Baby" I whispered in his ear, trying to calm myself so that I could stay strong for him…for the children. "We will make it through this, my love, we will bring Janice home and we will give Nathan and CJ the best life that we could possibly give them."

"I know." he whimpered "But it's still so wrong…this whole situation. Why Janice? Why now? She's so…perfect. So…young. Why her? She was all I had left of my family, Bells. All I had left."

"Which is why we need to be strong, baby. You have me, Summer and Chloe here to help you, Nathan and CJ through this. Janice wouldn't want you like this, Alcide and you know it…she would want you to give her babies the life they deserve." I said.

"I know." he said.

"Alcide, I love you and the kids love you too. Now you have to be strong…if not for me or yourself than at least be strong for the children." I said and he just nodded before I planted a light peck on his lips.

I sat their holding Alcide trying to calm both of our tears, I looked up to Jasper for some help and we both instantly relaxed and our crying stopped to an occasional whimper every now and then. When we were both calm, Carlisle called the social worker who agreed to meet us at our house. I debated over having Jasper tag along until after we told the boys but decided against it.

We loaded up Summer and Chloe, thought Rose and Emmett protested them leaving, and headed home. As soon as we got home, a social worker was standing outside with CJ and Nathan by her side. They looked tired and scared but perked up a bit when they saw us get out of the car.

"UNCLE ALCIDE!" they squealed and ran toward us "AUNT BELLA!"

After getting and giving hugs and kisses to the boys, we headed inside with the social worker to sign the papers making us their legal guardians from that point forward. After the social worker left we sat the kids down to talk and both Alcide and I were nervous.

"Nathan, CJ…you are going to be living with your Aunt Bella and I from now on." Alcide spoke slowly.

"Where's Mommy?" Nathan, the youngest who was 5, asked.

"She's gone isn't she?" CJ, who was 10, said hanging his head. He was a very perceptive little boy.

"Yes, baby. Your mom is gone." Alcide said trying to be strong for the boys as well as himself. Summer, who had been told on the way home, was crying hysterically again for the second time since we told her the news about Janice. CJ, I could tell, was trying to be strong for his little brother who didn't fully understand.

"Where did Mommy go, Uncle Alcide?" Nathan asked and my heart broke for him instantly. I glanced over at Alcide, who was struggling to form words and silently asked him to let me speak and he replied with a nod.

"Nathan, come here sweetie." I said motioning for him to come sit in my lap. Nathan complied and I wrapped my arms around him. "Sweetie, your Mommy got really hurt when you were in the wreck today and the angels came to take her to see your Granddaddy."

"So, Mommy is with Granddaddy now?" he asked.

"Yes, baby. I'm sorry." I said pulling him closer.

"Will I ever see Mommy again? I want to see Mommy." Nathan said and my heart broke that much more for him.

"No, baby. You won't see your Mommy anymore…but she will always be here." I said putting my hand over his heart "And here" I added touching his head.

"I want Mommy." Nathan said starting to cry, I pulled him even closer as he cried into my chest. I rubbed soothing circles in his back when I saw CJ stand up with tears rolling down his cheeks. CJ came over to Nathan and I and pulled Nathan into his arms.

"Nate, Mama's not hurting anymore and Granddaddy and the angels are going to take good care of her." he whispered to his little brother "She'll always be here we just can't see her. You can talk to her though, but you won't hear her talk back. I miss Ma Ma too, but Mama's in a better place, kid."

Nathan held his little brother for what seemed like forever and they both cried, Alcide held Summer as silently tears rolled down his cheeks and she sobbed rather loudly. All the effort it took to be strong for Alcide and the kids finally took it's toll as I broke down myself and cried.

The next day, Alcide and I went to identify Janice's body and it was yet again a painful experience. We buried her in Jackson next to Alcide's parents and the boys got to say one final goodbye before starting a life with us. It was a hard situation, that's for sure, but I knew that as long as we stuck together then we could get through it. Of course having an empath that was practically family helped also.

Six months after Janice died, Alice got a vision that we had hoped she would never get. The Volturi had caught wind of the Cullens moving into the Authority's territory and switching sides…and they were PISSED! What was even worse was somehow they found out that their reason for moving down here was because of me and the fact that I was human pissed Caius off to no end…this meant war….and we needed more help, so I called in a favor to my friends, as did the Cullens, Alcide and Eric. If they wanted war…we'd give them war


	18. Chapter 18

**Eternal Flame**

**Author's Note: I am SOOOO sorry it took me two weeks to add this chapter but between work, kids, etc I haven't had a lot of time to write…that and I was trying to figure out how I wanted this "war" between the Authority and the Volturi to go…let's see how it goes. We will take this to Alcide's POV for this chapter for the preparations for the upcoming battle.**

**Disclaimer: I am still not Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris nor Alan Ball so the characters mentioned in this story do not belong to me….this is just for fun please don't sue me!**

**Chapter 18**

***Alcide***

After Alice's vision every single one of us in our tight knit group were in a frenzy. I called the wolves that I knew from my time unfortunately running with Marcus's pack and some I had met during the run ins with Russell's Weres. The Cullens had flown in vamps from all over the world who were opposed to the Volturi and would do anything to see them fall, that brought our numbers up tremendously. Sookie asked her ex, and vampire King of Louisiana, Bill for help so that got him and his staff onboard, he also was able to settle his differences with the King of Mississippi to join sides with us in the case. Eric knew plenty of Supes (everyone ranging from vampires to elves) that would stand with us.

We sat at the Cullen house thinking battle strategies with the two best leaders when it came to coming up with battle strategies, Jasper and Eric, and when we made up a plan, Bill allowed us to all meet in his meeting hall to let everyone in on the loop.

"Thank you all for coming and for willing to work with us in our time of need. I would also like to thank you for putting the hostility that is supposed to come with being near one's natural enemy aside until the end of this battle." Carlisle began "For those of you that don't know…my name is Carlisle Cullen and I am from one of the few vegetarian covens of vampires in the world. My family and I moved down here to be near one of our loved ones. She is in as much danger as we all are for she was supposed to become one of us when she was with my eldest son, who is not here at the time for he is in Alaska, and the Volturi, our leaders to the North, are not happy whatsoever that she is still human and will be even more irritated to know that she is now mated and married to a werewolf."

A few growls erupted from some of the wolves, including Bella's shifter friends from the La Push reservation in Washington. A thought crossed my mind during Carlisle's speech, did he HONESTLY not know that Edward was back? As a matter of fact, where was Edward? Were was Jessica? I shook my head to rid myself of the distracting thoughts and continued to listen.

"Most of you may know my son, Jasper, for his was a Major down here in the south during the Southern Vampire wars." Carlisle continued and I heard a few people mention that they knew of the Major. "He, and Mr. Northman, have agreed to come up with strategies as to how we can weaken and possibly defeat the Volturi. We still have no word from the Authority but King Bill has word in to them as to what is going on. Now, I will let Jasper and Mr. Northman take the lead on this discussion of strategy and whatnot."

Jasper and Eric both walked to the front and everyone got deathly quiet as they leaned forward to pay attention to what Jasper and Eric had to say.

"First of all, we have a few secret weapons that the Volturi don't have, nor do they know about. The wolves and shifters, for instance, puts out numbers well above those of the Volturi and their guard. The vampires, elves, and Fae that we have on our side out number those that may stand with the Volturi." Jasper began.

"In order for our plan to work, we need to have all of us vamps front and center during this battle." Eric said "The shifters, wolves, elves and Fae should stick to the back and out of view so that the Volturi will not see you until time for your counter attacks." Eric said.

"Now, I must warn you all that Volturi have a nasty habit of training newborns for the time of battle for they are a lot stronger than a normal vampire that is fresh out of it's newborn stage for their human blood still lingers in their tissues." Jasper said "If you have no experience with newborns then I am willing to train those who need it for I used to train newborns during the Southern Wars."

"Moving on, this is how it will work. We will need a few physical shields to stand with us on the front lines so if you possess the power of a human shield, please step forward." Eric said and about a half a dozen vampires stepped forward. "Three of you will stand in the front with us, while the other three stand with the other supes to mask their scents." Eric said and the vampires nodded before taking their spots in the ranks.

"Now, here's what we will do. We vampires will try to take out the Volturi's key Guard members first and leave the brothers for last. It will be the job of the other supes to assure that the brothers do not leave until the end of the battle, by any means necessary…including death." Jasper said.

"Now, before the Major gets into the players for the Volturi side we need to get into another matter that will be addressed during this War of the Powers that be." Eric said. "The safety and protection of Bella, her children, and the other innocent humans of the area."

"Alcide, against our wishes for he is one of our most skillful fighters when it comes to Weres, has agreed to stay behind with his wife and children. We will also need at least one more Were or shifter and a couple of other Supes, preferably a Fae or a vampire to help Alcide protect his wife and children for the Volturi will be gearing for her for remaining human." Jasper said.

"We will also need at least 4 weres or shifters to guard the humans of the area as well as either 4 gifted vampires or 4 Fae to assist them. If anyone if willing to volunteer for either of these positions please step forward." Eric said.

"I volunteer to help assist Alcide in keeping Bella safe." Jacob said stepping forward, which wasn't really the surprise of the hour considering he would do anything for Bella.

"Anyone else to help with Bella detail?" Jasper asked and that's when we all got the shock of our lives.

"My mate and I will assist Jacob and Alcide with protecting Bella." a voice said from the back of the room and everyone turned to look as Edward and Jessica walked to the front of the room.

"Edward?" Bella said in shock "What are you doing here?"

"Helping to keep you and your mate and children safe…I know for a fact that the two of you just worked things out and have been going through a hard time since his sister's death so it would be a shame for you to be torn apart again. It would be an honor." he said.

"Thank you, Edward." I said shaking Edward's hand. I was glad he finally came out of hiding. Edward, Jessica and Jacob took their place beside Bella and I and 4 of the La Push wolves, excluding Paul, Sam and Jared who were their strongest warriors, and 4 Fae decided to help protect the people of Bon Temps and Shreveport. As Eric and Jasper talked to those that would be protecting the people of the surrounding towns Bella leaned over and whispered something in my ear.

"How do you know Edward, baby?" she asked.

"Well do you remember the friend in the woods that helped to knock some sense into me after I fucked up?" I asked and she nodded.

"That was Edward?" she asked and I nodded. "Wow!"

She turned to Edward and thanked him. "It was my pleasure Isabella, I know I hurt you in the past but you deserved to be happy and loved." he said.

"When did you get to the area?" she asked.

"I've been here a while and plan to stay because it is were I met my mate, Jessica." he said squeezing Jessica's hand. Bella smiled at Edward and Jessica and snuggled into me as we focused back on Jasper and Eric who were just getting into the Volturi Guard.

"Now, let's talk about the Guard. My father, Carlisle, was able to get some pictures so that you can put faces to names while we are describing the to help you to better identify them during the battle." Jasper said "Could you please get the lights Seth?"

Seth dimmed the lights as Eric pulled down a projector screen and Jasper got hold of the remote for the slide show. He flipped to the first slide which showed a short girl, about 5'3, with an hourglass figure and light brown hair with crimson eyes.

"This will be your first target, Chelsea. She may be easy on the eye to some of you but if you do not take her out quickly then she has the special ability of relationship manipulation which has helped the Volturi win many battles in the past. She can undo any form of bond between people so basically she can get us all to turn against each other which is why it is EXTREMELY important that she is the first to go." Jasper said stressing how important it was to target Chelsea first. He flipped to the second slide to show an angelic looking vampire with blonde hair slicked back into a tight bun and crimson eyes. She looked to be no more than 13 or 14 and she was tiny but I had a feeling there was more to her.

"This is one of the Volturi's most dangerous and most effective weapon, Jane. Jane was turned at 13 but don't let her age or size fool you. Jane possesses the power to force excruciating pain on a single person. According to my brother, Edward, and a few others who have come in contact with Jane's gift, she can make you feel as if you are being burned alive. Normally Jane would need to make eye contact with you but it is my understanding that she has expanded her gift to be able to blanket people with pain." Jasper said "She will need to be the next to go."

Jasper flipped sides to show a young man, who looked similar to Jane in age and in the face but had brownish color hair, a baby face and crimson eyes. "Alec is Jane's twin brother and also one of the Volturi's most effective weapons. He will need to be taken out second. Alec is normally only used when the Volturi are executing someone who had either a tie to one of the brothers or who has been loyal for Alec can cut off all sense so that you can feel no pain. Don't think that he is an easy kill for if he does cut off your senses you WILL become paralyzed and your powers will not work if you possess any sort of gift. He will need to be taken our quickly after his sister and Chelsea." he said flipping to the next slide. On this slide there was a small girl, maybe 5 feet tall with raven black hair. She had a rigid and distressed looking face.

"Renata is the personal bodyguard to Aro, the head King, though she comes to the aid of the others as well. Renata had the power to repel any attacks made toward the brothers, much like our shields will do. She had no bloodlust nor desire to fight but that doesn't mean that she will be an easy target to kill considering her power. It will be the job of those that will be assuring that thee brothers do not leave to take her out." Jasper said eyeing the wolves, shifters, elves and Fae. He flipped to another slide to reveal one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, with my Bella being the most beautiful. She was tall with long mahogany hair, long legs that make her appear about 5'10 and she seemed to have blue contacts in over her red irises to make her eyes look a violet color. She had a beauty that was comparable to Rosalie's.

"Heidi is known as the "fisher" or "bait" of the Volturi for her looks attract humans to do her bidding. They mainly use Heidi for bringing humans in to feed but I must warn you shifters and weres that her ability DOES work on the human side of your kinds. She will try to lure you in so that you can be taken out by one of the bigger or more powerful guards. You've been warned." Jasper said flipping the side once again. This slide showed a tall thin man with short frosted brownish blonde hair and crimson eyes.

"All right ladies and gentlemen, if any of you plan to run during the battle then this man will be a threat to you. This is Demetri and he has the ability to hone in on the essence of your mind to track you down where ever in the world you decide to run, they use himto track those who try to escape Volturi slaughter and he is damn good at his job. Take him out to avoid him finding you in the future." Jasper said flipping to the next slide which showed a very large man, who's size reminded me of Emmett's. He had black hair that came down just above his eyes and a strong jaw.

"Felix may be one of the harder ones to take out once you get past those with abilities. He may not be gifted like the others but he's as strong as a freakin' OX! They say that challenging Felix physically is like committing suicide but I think that my brother, Emmett as well as a few of you here in attendance could take him if you wanted to. Emmett, we will need you to find other vampires with your physical strength to assist you in taking down Felix…Emmett, I feel that you will be able to take out my next slide on your own and I think you know who I am talking about." Jasper said to his brother, Emmett. Emmett laughed and shook his head as Jasper flipped to another slide. A picture of a man who looked to be Spanish or another form of Hispanic with a tan complexion like that of the Quileute shifters in attendance with long curly black hair and impressive muscles.

"This is Santiago, like Felix he doesn't possess any supernatural power other than his strength and even then he is no match for Felix's strength which is why I want Emmett to hone in on him before tackling Felix." Jasper said.

"It would be my honor big brother, I have a bone to pick with Mr. Santiago." Emmett said with a laugh as he rubbed his hands together mischievously.

"Now that we have covered the Guard members that need to be taken out, the other vampires should be a piece of cake. We can use the abilities that we possess to take them out. Now, moving on to the brothers themselves. Two of them have wives, but they are of no threat to us." Jasper said flipping to a slide that showed a very pale man with skin that is almost translucent, long black hair pulled into a ponytail away from his face, and a pair of unsettling milky red eyes.

"Aro is considered to be the highest ranking of the three brothers though they all possess the power to rule over the vampires to the North. Aro is very greedy and manipulative and has the power to see every thing from your past with the touch of a hand, which he can use against you in the time of battle." Jasper said flipping to another slide to show another dark haired man who looked evil as hell.

"Caius does not possess any special powers but he is Aro's right hand man and will be one of the main ones gunnin' for Bella because she is still human. He is ruthless in battle despite his nonexistence of only thing keeping him from killing Aro himself is Chelsea's gift because they seem to disagree on EVERYTHING. It may also be a good thing to add that he has quite the distaste for werewolves and shape shifters." he said causing the wolves to growl. He chuckled before flipping to the last slide which showed a depressed looking man with long blonde hair and crimson eyes.

"Marcus will be the easiest brother to manipulate and kill because he has nothing left to lose and when Chelsea is killed he will no longer have any ties to the Volturi to which he was being forced to have in the first place. He is the brother in law of Aro and little does he know that it was Aro that had his wife killed because they wanted to leave Volterra. That information could potentially cause him to kill Aro himself, leaving only him and Caius to duke it out. Neither have anything to lose so they would either kill each other or just fall at our hands or bend to our will." Jasper said.

"Now that the Major has laid out all the cards that the Volturi are playing with, are their any questions?" Eric asked and no one seemed to have any. "Ok then, anyone who needs proper training in dealing with Newborns please see the Major and the others on human detail please report to me so that I can divide out responsibilities."

After all was said and done the group was split in half and the next day we all split up for training. It was all a matter of waiting after that and we had Alice focusing on Aro's decisions to see when they are coming to Bon Temps. I just hoped out numbers and the protection detail around our home, Bon Temps and Shreveport is enough to keep the humans safe and to keep my family safe


	19. Chapter 19

**Eternal Flame**

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to add. I am just doing one more chapter of this and then the epilogue .It's been fun but it's got to end sometime!Thank you all for sticking with me!**

**Chapter 19**

*Bella*

To say that I was nervous about the upcoming battle was the understatement of the century. I mean not only was the life of the Cullens, who I have considered family throughout the years, on the line but the lives of my love, my children and myself were also on the line. I should be used to this after being hunted by vampires for so long but it still didn't ease the tension that came with being the prey. I went back to work at Merlotte's to take my mind off of things and I promised Alcide that I would be safe there with Sookie and her microwave fingers but he still wasn't convinced until Sam reassured him that he would keep me safe as long as I was at work. That eased Alcide's mind a bit seeing as Sam was a shifter. I sweetened the deal by convincing Leah to come to work with me for a bit of extra protection, that is after I convinced her that not all vampires were the enemy.

For a while things were going ok at work, that was until Alice got a vision that the Volturi would be here within a week. That only made me even more terrified of the outcome of this war. I continued to work to take my mind off of things and spent as much time with my children and my love that I could being as it may be our last days together. I was trying to be optimistic but it didn't seem to drown out that sense of dread I was feeling over the whole situation.

That was until I got an unexpected visitor at work a couple of days before the brothers and their Guard were expected to arrive. I had no doubt that Alice had not seen it coming being that I was in the vacinity of shifters and that made me a bit more uneasy when I saw one of the brothers walk in. I recognized him from the pictures to be Marcus but what he was doing here without his brothers was what baffled me.

Marcus walked right up to the counter and ordered a True Blood, which was unusual since from what I gathered the Volturi highly frowned upon anyone partaking in artifical blood. Leah supressed a growl when she saw him out of the corner of her eye and I had to hold her back from attacking him right away. Sam kept watch from in the shadows in case Marcus tried anything stupid but the fact that he was even there had me scared scared shitless.

"How may I help you today sure?" I heard Tara ask.

"This will do for now, Miss. I was wondering, do you have a young lady by the name of Isabella working here?" he asked.

"Yes, but she's not in right now." Tara lied after seeing the looks of unease on our faces when he walked in and the panicked look I gave when he mentioned my name.

"I'm sorry I was trying to find her before my brothers did. It seems we are in a difficult situation, to which i can't disclose at this time, and I wanted to talk with her to tell her that I want no part in the destruction of her family or her extended family in the Cullens. My brother, Aro, is a bit power hungry." he said and I took that opportunity to finally step forward and speak against the protests of Leah and Sookie.

"Marcus, right? Why would you help us?" I asked.

"Ah, Isabella, I presume." he said extending his hand.

"Just Bella, please." I said taking his hand uneasily.

"Right, Bella." he said "As I said before, I want no part in the destruction of your family or

your extended family, the Cullens, that is all Aro. I want to help."

"Do your brothers know that you are here?" I asked.

"That they do not." he said.

"How were you able to get out of the bond that Chelsea forced upon you to remain loyal to the Volturi after your wife's death?" I asked.

"That was the easy part. You see Chelsea was miserable after the brothers sent her mate away from the Guard. In return for me convincing the brothers to allow her mate to remain on the Guard she broke the bond I had on the brothers. I have only stayed around for the past 200 years because I really have nowhere else to go since my love died." he said.

"OK, so...why would you want to help us?" I asked again.

"Carlisle was once a dear friend of mine and the bond he has to his family is stronger than any bond that I have ever seen. I see that your bond is the same to the Cullens as well as the wolves." he said and I was in shock that he knew about the wolves.

"H-how did you know about..."I stammered and he cut me off.

"I can smell then and I can see it in your bonds...don't worry your secret is safe with me young one." he said.

"OK...weird." I mumbled. "But other than we have strong bonds why would you want to help us?"

"I was once a strong believer in family, I still am to a point but when I lost my love I gave up on it. I have never seen a family as strong and as loving as yours before and it would be a shame to see any of you die in vain over something as ludicrous as moving into the territory of the Authority. That and I feel the views of the authority are alot more fair than ours are. They allow for our kind to live peacefully and out in the open without fear of death for exposing ourselves to the human population. I have wanted to join the Authority for some time now. Why not now that the event has arisen that there would be war between the powers that be?" he said.

"Ok...so how can you help us in our cause Marcus?" I asked.

"I can take out the brothers." he said.

"How do you propose that when they still think you are loyal to them? Won't they kill you once they find out that you are speaking with the enemy so to speak?" I asked.

"I have my ways of hiding my thoughts and memories from Aro and he rarely looks into my head since the death of my love. He says it is too depressing for his fancy to even both with." he said. "The fact that I have pretended to stay loyal to them so long is an advantage I have over them. If your kin take out the guard, then I'll handle the brothers."

"That's something I need to run by my family, I want to believe you Marcus truly I do but I don't know if I can trust you." I said.

"That is understandable Bella, I haven't really done or said anything that would warrant your trust." he said. "I would only hope that maybe we could go to your family and talk to them about this. Your adoptive brother, Jasper, he can sense emotions correct? He would be able to sense if I were lying. And I am sure Carlisle or perhaps one of your out of the coffin friends know of someone who can tell when someone is lying."

"When?" I asked.

"Whenever you would like, Miss Bella but time IS of the essence since my brothers will be here in a few days." he said.

"Um. Let me make a phone call, wait here." I said hesitantly "And please don't think that I am being paranoid but I want Leah to stay close to you while I go in the back to make the call…at least until I know this is not a trap."

"By all means, I understand your hesitation in this situation. If the tables were turned I would probably exhibit the same behavior as you young Bella." he said.

I walked to the back to call Carlisle after making sure that Leah never took her eyes off of Marcus. I wanted to believe him but my life and the lives of my family were in jeopardy so I couldn't be too sure. After one ring Carlisle picked up.

"This is Carlisle." he said.

"Hey Carlisle. I um…I have an interesting visitor here at the diner who wants to help with our cause. I had Leah and Sam both keep a close eye on him while I called you. Do you think that you can come down here to talk to him?" I said "And um…bring Jasper and Maggie please?"

"Bella, who is there that you would insist I bring an empath and a lie detector?" he asked.

"Marcus" I said hesitantly.

"Marcus as in Volturi Marcus?" he asked.

"One in the same." I said.

"We will be right down, I have never known him to lie or betray anyone but this is a change for him. Don't take your eyes off of him." he said.

"Ok see you soon." I said.

At that we hung up and I walked back out to where Marcus was being guarded by Leah and Sookie with Sam still in the shadows ready to pounce if needed. Carlisle showed up a few minutes later with Jasper, Maggie and Emmett for muscle. Carlisle took a seat at the bar beside Marcus.

"Marcus, old friend, what brings you to Louisiana?" Carlisle asked.

"I've come to offer my assistance to your cause." he said and Carlisle glanced at Maggie who only nodded her head to tell him he was being honest.

"How did you manage to break away from the brothers?" Carlisle asked.

"I did a favor to Chelsea and she broke the bond Aro had her form to me when my love died." he said and again Maggie nodded.

"OK, now that we have it established that you are being sincere. How do you plan to help us, old friend?" Carlisle asked.

"I plan to take out the brothers for you. If you take out the Guard, I can handle Aro and Caius. They would never suspect me seeing as I am supposed to be on their side." he said.

"You do know, Marcus, that Aro will kill you if he catches wind that you are coming up with strategies with the enemy right?" Jasper asked raising an eyebrow.

"I am aware of that and I have a method of keeping things from Aro's gift, not that he's been in my head for the past 2,000 years since Di's death." he said.

"Ok, so you take out the brothers…then what would you do?" Carlisle asked.

"I haven't decided yet whether to either join the Authority or to just settle down and attempt at a normal life among human society for the first time since my creation." he said.

"OK, well then I think we have a plan. Any special requests, old friend?" Carlisle asked.

"If you could please tell those fighting with you to spare Heidi, I would greatly appreciate it." Marcus said.

"Why Heidi?" Jasper asked.

"I've come to think of her as a daughter, moreso than any of the other women in the guard. She has done nothing wrong other than stand with us and lure humans into the feeding room at Aro's insistence." Marcus said.

"I see, well we will make sure to let everyone know." Carlisle said.

"Also, I have caught wind of your wolf friends and of their 'imprinting'. It's similar to our mating, no?" Aro asked.

"From what I gather from the imprinted wolves, yes." Carlisle said "Why do you ask?"

"I came across a future seer like your Alice that said that my dear Heidi would find her mate in a young Native boy with the ability to shift into a wolf." Marcus said.

"Well we will make sure to watch out for that because we only have one left to imprint among the Quileute pack." Carlisle said thinking of Seth.

"If that is the same one from the future seer's vision then he will protect her well." Marcus said. "Well, I must be getting back. I am supposed to be back from my 'talent scouting' tomorrow. I wouldn't want to keep the brother waiting or else they will suspect my betrayal."

"Thank you for your help, old friend. It is a relief to have at least one brother on our side." Carlisle said.

"Just stick to the plan and everything should go well but I must warn you, Carlisle. You may lose some people on your side while defeating ours but I feel we will win this battle. I just wanted to warn you." Marcus said.

"Thank you for the warning and thank you again for your loyalty." Carlisle said taking Marcus's hand.

Marcus said his goodbyes and then left us all confused. After Merlotte's closed we met up at Bill's conference room again to go over the new plan, but kept the original as plan B in case Marcus decides to turn against us for some reason. I just hoped that everything would work out in our favor and that we didn't lose many in the battle.

A few days later everyone got into formation in a clearing where Alice said the guard would be and I stayed home with Alcide, the children, Jacob, Edward and Jessica. We were prepared for whatever came our way.

"Babe, I promise I will never let anything happen to you or the kids." Alcide said kissing me reassuringly.

"I know but the fact that the rest of my family, with the exception of Jake and Edward, are all out there fighting and I can't help but feel that yet again it's my fault that they are in danger!" I sobbed into Alcide's chest.

"That's insane, Bella, and you know it. They are not in danger because of you." Alcide said pulling my head up to look at him.

"They never would have moved down here if it weren't for me." I said as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. "I'm not worth all this!"

"Isabella Marie Swan Herveaux!" Alcide growled causing me to jump slightly "I never want to hear you say that shit again! Do you understand me?" I nodded quickly "You have a family here in this house that loves you you are worth everything it takes to keep you in our lives. As for the Cullens, They moved down here out of their own free will and they wanted to be close to you because they love you. Because you ARE worth it!"

"Thank you, baby!" I said kissing him "I needed that slap in the face to bring me back to my senses. I just don't want anyone to get hurt is all."

All of a sudden there was a loud growl outside that sounded a lot like Jacob as well as the growls of what sounded like Edward and Jessica. I felt Alcide tense beside me before he kissed me and told me to get the kids and hide.

I ran to the room and hit in our walk-in closet with all 4 children. I tried to keep the children calm when I was a nervous wreck myself as I heard the loud growls of Alcide and Jake followed by the hissing of Edward and Jessica. I tried to keep the tears from rolling down my face when I heard a really loud crunch followed by what sounded like a yelp coming from one of the wolves. I felt a sense of dread wash over me as I heard the sound of a fire burning and ripping noises like that of James when Jasper, Emmett and Alice ripped him apart so long ago when he attacked me. Then all of a sudden everything went dead quiet.

I was fearing the worst at that point in time and I held my children close to me as I held my breath. All of a sudden the door to the closet burst open and the children screamed. I was frozen in fear. There was a loud hissing noise and I looked up to see that Jane had made it away from the rest of the Guard and was standing in front of the closet door, I didn't know what to do.

"NO!" I screamed to the top of my lungs as she started toward the children and I. I don't know why I did it but I held my hands as if I were trying to stop her from coming near me. All of a sudden a large burst of light shot from my palms and hit Jane in the middle of the chest sending her flying backwards. Jane screamed bloody murder as she flew backwards and I saw smoke rising from her body as she slumped to the floor. She was on fire somehow and I had no idea where it came from.

I sat there in the closet with the children unmoving until Jane was nothing more than a pile of ash laying in our bedroom floor. The smell of her burning flesh was so unbearable that I almost lost what little I had eaten that day. When she was completely burned to ash, I laid back and relaxed a bit. I wondered how the hell I did that.

A few minutes after destroying Jane with my own form of Sookie's microwave hands Alcide came barreling into the bedroom. He pulled me and the children into his arms and held us tight.

"Are you ok?" he asked. He was covered in blood that was not his own, I tried to keep my cool.

"I'm ok…we're ok. Jane came after us…I don't know how I did it but I shot some kind of flaming ball at her and burned her alive.

"I'm just glad you are all ok. We got ambushed outside by Jane, Alec and a swarm of newborns.

"Who got hurt?" I asked remembering the yelp I heard.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I heard a yelp, who got hurt?" I asked panicked.

"Baby, Jake got hurt. He's ok though but I think his leg and a couple of ribs are broken." he said.

"Oh my god!" I gasped "I hate that he got hurt but I'm so glad he's ok."

"You guys can come out now, I think it's safe and we just got word that the rest of the guard has been taken out and Marcus took out the brothers just as he said he would." Alcide said.

"Did we lose anyone?" I asked.

"We're not sure yet, they are still sifting through the bodies and burning the vampire limbs." Alcide said.

"I hope everyone is all right." I said, still feeling the worst about the entire situation.


	20. Chapter 20

**Eternal Flame**

**A/N: Thank you all for sticking with this story and reading and reviewing. It's you, the readers, who have made me push on to continue this story when I was having trouble figuring out what I should write. Thank you all for your kind words, constructive criticism and adding this story, as well as myself, to your fave story and fave authors. I am planning on doing a new series soon which will be a series of one and two shots and a couple of full length stories using our fave Twilight characters and some OC's that I have made up from people I went to school with just for fun and as a request from my bff Anthony who has supported me in everything that I have written. I would also like to hear any story ideas that you, my readers, may have so feel free to follow me on Twitter at SamanthaRice6 or send me a pm on here.**

**Disclaimer: I am still not Stephanie Meyer or Charlaine Harris…lucky bitches!**

**Chapter 20**

***Alcide***

When I went outside with Edward, Jessica and Jacob I was not expecting to see that there were a dozen or so newborns flanking the little blonde girl, Jane, when I got there. We took out all of the newborns but not without one of them catching Jacob off guard and leaving him with a few broken ribs and cracked bones in his arm and leg. I ran inside to check on Bella and the children while Edward, who had some medical training, set Jacob's bones on our couch.

When I got to our bedroom I saw that Jane was burning to death in the middle of the floor and the stench was almost unbearable. When I got to the closet where Bella and the children were I pulled all 5 of them into my arms and told Bella what happened. We still can't explain what happened in that room. My best guess was that Bella, for fear of her children, had discovered another of her Fae powers besides that of being a mental shield.

We went into the living room to check on the ailing Jacob when Edward got a phone call from Carlisle signaling that the fight was over and Marcus had made good on his promise to kill his brothers, and we made good on our promise to save Heidi. Which we would have anyway after finding out that Seth had in fact imprinted on her as Marcus's future seer had predicted.

After assuring that Jacob was ok, we left him and the children with Claudine who happened to be both Sookie and Bella's Fairy Godmother, and headed out to where the battle took place to take a body count. When we got there they were sifting through the body parts and throwing the pieces of the guard into the fire.

Unfortunately we DID lose a couple on our side during the battle. The Cullens remained intact but unfortunately Jasper lost part of his arm, adding to his many battle scars...they found it among the rubble. As for the shifters and wolves, Sam (Merlotte) lost his fiancee Luna in the battle, a few other local wolves were hurt and much to Bella's dismay since she would have to be the one to tell Jacob, Leah was slaughtered during the battle and Paul was as well. Out of the other vampires and Fae, everyone was still intact but they had plenty of battle scars to show for the battle.

Marcus, having made good on his promise, earned everyone's respect that day and the respect of the Authority. They offered him a position to work for him but he politely declined as he wanted to experience life among humans for the first time since his change. That and he felt drawn to Eric's right hand woman, Pam. We welcomed him with open arms.

After taking account of the losses we loaded up Paul and Leah in caskets to send them home but not before we let Jacob say goodbye to his mate. Telling Jacob was the hardest thing we ever had to do. He was lying on the couch when we got home, almost fully healed and we had just told Jessica and Edward what happened. I made sure to bring Jasper along in case we needed his gift, at my Bella's suggestion.

We were dreading the conversation because from what I gathered from a few of the other native wolves, when a wolf loses his imprint a huge part of them dies as well…if they don't die themselves. I feel that Jacob may have felt it when Leah died because he became easily distracted to the point where one of the vampires got to him.

"Jake, how are you feeling?" Bella said sitting on the floor next to him.

"I've been better but I am feeling much better." he said with a small smile her direction.

"Jake, I need to tell you something and it is hard for me to say." she said.

"I felt it, Bells." he said as tears began to fall down his face "I felt so much pain and sorrow, it was as if my own heart were going to beat out of my chest and just explode. I think that is why I got distracted, why the vampire got me."

"So you know what I am going to say?" she asked, a bit confused.

"How bad is my Leah hurt?" he asked. "And who else is hurt?"

"We lost Paul…and Jake, Leah…"Bella started but tears overcame her. "Leah didn't make it, Jake."

Jacob began to bawl uncontrollably then, shaking uncontrollably. I thought for a minute there he was going to lose control and phase but I felt a wave of calm wash over the room and I shot a look of gratitude Jasper's way.

"Thank you Jasper." Bella said cradling Jacob's head to her chest as he cried.

"Jake" Jasper said entering the room "I wanted you to know that I tried to get there to Leah before Santiago did but it was too late. I'll have you know though that Emmett and I tore him apart and burned him for what he did to Leah. She was a wonderful girl and didn't deserve this fate."

"Thank you Jasper." Jake managed to get out "I just…I have no clue what I am going to do now. I mean you know how it is, Jas…you vampires mate for life. So do we. There's no one out there for me, my soul mate was just ripped from me…and so was my soul."

"Jake" was all Bella said before pulling him back into her chest to cry again.I really and truly felt for Jacob because I don't know what I would do if I ever lost my Bella or my Children and Jake just had his entire future, his entire world ripped away from him by Santiago. Luckily Jasper and Emmett took care of him but that will never bring Leah back.

A few days later, the Quileutes went home to bury Leah and Paul. Then Cullens, Bella and I went with them since we were all close to the pack. Everyone gathered on the little island, called A-Ka-Lat or James Island, off from First beach in La Push where they buried former Chiefs and wolves alike. After the wolves brought in two canoes, normally only reserved for Chiefs and wolves, holding the bodies of Leah and Paul. Jacob and Rachel, Jake's sister and Paul's imprint, held each other in grief as they walked by them. I held Bella close as Billy began the ceremony, The Cullens, Bella and I were the only pale faces allowed there since we were like family to the wolves.

He spoke in the ancient Quileute language, saying a prayer for each of the deceased as two pack members climbed the trees to place them at the top to allow their rite of passage into the after life. After Paul and Leah were up in the trees, Billy said one more prayer for their safe passage into the afterlife. It was the most beautiful and spiritual experience I have ever encountered and I somehow felt stronger after witnessing it.

After the funeral ritual we had a bonfire in the clearing bordering both Quileute and the old Cullen land. Everyone drank and celebrated the lives of both Leah Clearwater and Paul Lahote. That's when Jacob made his announcement.

"May I have everyone's attention please?" he said and everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention. "I have decided that in light of losing my mate that I am going to renounce all positions within the pack and stop phasing. Once I get in control of the wolf to the point where I will not phase when angry or upset then I am going to move to Bon Temps to be closer to my second family. I hope you all understand but I need to do this…for me. For my sanity."

"I understand, son. As we all do. No one will fault you for your decision, we will all help you control your anger and your emotions enough to stop phasing." Billy said.

"And another thing, I would like to thank Jasper for trying to save my Leah and for him and his brother for dismembering and burning the leech responsible for the death of my mate." Jacob said. "If the shoe were on the other foot I would've done anything possible to do the same to avenge the deaths of Rosalie and Alice if that were the case.

"You are very welcome." They both said.

"Thank you Carlisle and Esme for avenging my Paul's death as well." Rachel said quietly from beside Jacob.

"You're welcome, Rachel." Carlisle said "Jacob, Rachel please feel free to come to my family for anything. You are always welcome where ever we are. The same goes for the rest of the pack as well."

"Thank you Carlisle." Jacob said.

We continued to reflect on everything that had happened and the next day we headed home. Alcide and I were going to attend Luna's funeral since Sam was a dear friend to us both, despite our past together.

It was a rough week following the battle, hell…for months we were still trying to move on…but we made it.


	21. Epilogue

**Eternal Flame**

**A/N: Thank you all again for reading, reviewing, and adding this story and myself to your favorites. I really appreciate your support on this project. It was along shot in the beginning because I had never ventured into a cross over before but we made it! Please feel free to read and review one of my other stories and be on the look out for any that I may bring into view in the future. You, the readers, is why I continue to do what I do in bringing you all new things to read. I cannot thank you enough. So here goes the epilogue for Eternal Flame…it won't be long but it will sum up what happened to everyone in the years following the battle. ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood but I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with the characters from both series in this story. And oh how I would love to play with a few of the male characters in the bedroom…namely Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper from Twilight and Eric, Sam and Alcide from True Blood.**

**EPILOGUE**

***Bella*  
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After the battle with the Volturi, with the help of our friends on the side of the Authority, we all tried to move past the events of the day. The Authority came in to do clean up and to thank us that rid them of the Volturi threat in the weeks after the battle and even offered a few of us a job, to which we all turned down.

After the battle the Cullens all stayed around the Bon Temps and Shreveport area but each mated couple ventured out on their own within the area. Carlisle took a position at the local hospital to help care for the humans in the area and because of his goodhearted nature, the people flocked to him. Esme finally opened her own interior design firm and has had quite a bit of business from wealthy homeowners around our area and the area of New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Jasper went on to work for Bill Compton, King of Louisiana, as his secretary of defense so to speak because of his vast knowledge of vampire armies and his ability to tame newborns. They hit it off during the whole ordeal leading up to the battle with the Volturi because they both fought on the side of the Confederacy once upon a time. Alice put her knack for fashion to good use and is now one of the top designers in the world, and yes she still forces me to play Bella Barbie from time to time to see what her creations would look like on a human.

Emmett went on to work with Alcide at his construction company because he said he found his calling in building things, just as Alcide had once upon a time. Rosalie opened her own garage so that she could say that she owned one of the only garages in the south that didn't screw it's patrons with high labor costs, having her patrons pay no labor and half price for parts. Smart girl, that Rosalie, she made a FORTUNE!

Edward and Jessica stayed close by also being as Jessica really didn't feel like being away from her maker and Edward wanted to stay close to his family. Edward went on to follow Carlisle's footsteps in working at the hospital after getting his doctorate in medicine. Jessica found her calling in dance and is now one of the top dancers in the country, everyone wanted her for their shows, videos, etc.

Seth moved two houses down from Alcide and I to be close to me since we had formed a brother-sister bond after Leah's death and he stopped phasing shortly after imprinting on Heidi. Seth teaches out at the local college now, Native American folklore and history. Heidi put her good looks and people skills to good use by opening and becoming a spokes model for a company she started to help the newly turned cope with their lifestyle.

Marcus refused to work for the Authority after he saw how easy life could be from a position that didn't have power. He stuck around Bon Temps for a while and got to become really close to Eric and Sookie, going into business with Eric to expand on his night clubs for vampires. There are now 25 vampire night clubs spread throughout the United States and they have booming business.

Sookie and Eric FINALLY got married by both human and vampire standards, I was the matron of honor, and shocked everyone when Sookie became pregnant with a hybrid baby. Little Leah Pauline, named after those fallen, was so adorable. Eric stepped down as Sheriff and handed the position off to Jasper, who like I said is also like a secretary of state for Bill. They now live peacefully together, happier than ever. But that doesn't mean go fuck with them either because Eric is still that same old ruthless Viking he always has been.

Jake eventually stopped phasing and moved down to Shreveport to be close to us. He lives right next door, in fact, and is Godfather to our children. He co-owns the garage that Rosalie opened and enjoys every minute he spends tinkering with the cars he is brought.

As for Alcide and I? After the battle, we spent the next few years raising our children, I eventually became a stay at home mom and I have enjoyed every minute of it. When little Chloe was about 4 I found out I was pregnant with our daughter, Cheyenne. She was our little miracle baby because I never thought I'd have anymore after Chloe and after taking in CJ and Nathan…but we make do with out 5 children. I love them all very much.

The Volturi battle was a huge milestone for all of us but it helped to pave the way for our futures. Futures without threat of death because of exposure. I hate that we lost those that we had but they did not die in vain. They died to keep us safe and free and to Paul and Leah, I will always love them for that. The experience also made Alcide and I stronger as a couple because you never know just what you have until you almost lose it. We have been enjoying every minute of our time together.

**THE EN**


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